To Battle Heroes
by Razamataz22
Summary: Beacon Academy had a great deal of teaching facilities for both staff and students to experience. Sometimes though there were simulations that you could never brace yourself for.
1. The Training Ground

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **...**

Ruby did her best not to fall asleep during the history class, despite how up and go their teacher was (whether natural or from just the sheer amount of coffee he had digested was hard to tell) as he zipped around the classroom recalling various aspects of history he deemed important. She was simply glad that she wasn't the only one, mildly grateful at the same time that Weiss was the only member of their team taking notes. That however meant that she was free to sleep the lesson away and simply copy the notes at a later date, one where she wasn't bored to death.

Professor Oobleck adjusted his glasses slightly having noticed that the topic of the day seemed to be falling on deaf ears. The hyperactive teacher didn't blame them, at the moment they weren't learning how to slay Grimm or keep their weapon properly poised for battle. Oobleck allowed a sigh to escape his lips as he figured out the best course of action. While Goodwitch likely would have none of what he was about to bestow upon the young Huntsmen and Huntresses these were darkening times, as much as he wished to deny it.

History would be these students greatest weapon.

It just had to be in a more practical sense.

"Class," he nearly shouted, startling those that had been drooling onto their parchment. "Perhaps there is another topic on which I can discuss with you today, one which you wouldn't even learn about until your final year of study. The option is only given towards the end of your time spent here at Beacon Academy, and even then few choose to take this practical session into account."

There was a brief murmur around students and even Ruby Rose found herself brought back to the real world, the conversation Oobleck was saying much more entertaining than her daydreams of chasing Zwei through an open meadow. Once the murmuring died down slightly, Professor Oobleck spoke to the students once more. "There are many things that we can prepare you for in these halls but once you step foot into the real world your knowledge and experience are what ensures you survive. I won't sugarcoat it, every mission is dangerous, a simple scouting mission can soon have you fighting for your lives, perhaps even a fight you have no chance of winning. While this is a grim thought, it is a very real one."

"This practical is designed to teach you one of the few things that we as teachers are unable to do so. Participating in such an event is guaranteed to result in a failure from both a single and team point of view."

That got the murmurs started once more, much louder than before.

"Professor," said Weiss as she raised her hand diligently. "Are you saying that we don't have a chance in this practical?"

"Precisely," said Oobleck as he took a sip of his coffee. "The room is kept under heavy lock and key for both the wonders and the dangers that are contained within. The only way that you can gain access is by asking Professor Ozpin directly and having him approve for your team to step forward to face certain defeat."

"Professor," said Nora, not bothering to raise her hand like the Schnee heiress. "What's in the school?"

Her question was followed momentarily by silence as many students internally debating with what kind of Grimm monstrosity was lying in wait. "The room contains many and yet contains none," said the Professor cryptically. "Decades, perhaps even as far back as the creation of this school that room has resided. The spirits of heroes long since forgotten are trapped away in there, able to manifest themselves into physical form within the boundaries of the room. Likewise, any injuries sustained in that room are only manifestations within the room itself, as soon as you step out, or thrown out, you will find not a scratch on your body nor a hair out of place. You will know however that you suffered the utter taste of defeat."

"How are you so certain that we'll lose?" said Yang, feeling optimistic about fighting something so strong with no repercussions.

"I once had the same mind as you and talking with some of the other students tried to brace myself for the battle to come. The hero whom you will fight however is randomized so as far as our class was aware, none of us had battled the same foe. So we walked forward to fight an enemy we had no knowledge of and no tactic against. Fighting humans is far greater a task than fighting a Grimm, especially humans as powerful as this."

Oobleck adjusted his glasses once more as he saw that the class was now captivated on his every word. "We went in and the room we were in manifested into a barren wasteland and I still recall the chilling words I hear. ' _I am the bone of my sword.'_ That was all the warning we were given before carnage began. As a team we fought and learned alongside one another for nearly any situation. When his arrow pierced through my hand it felt all too real. That was but the warning shot as he continued chanting, the words I can no longer recall, I had essentially gone into shock at that point. I do remember watching though as my teammates did their best to fight against him as he pitted his skills against their own, it was clear who the greater combatant was. Twin blades made of black and white danced in front of me before I tasted the cold taste of death."

Shocked gasps rang out as Oobleck gripped his glasses and cleaned them with the hem of his shirt. "We woke up in the infirmary, having been found unconscious outside the room," he continued. "It just went to show that we had a great deal more to go in regards to strength. My teammates though refused to even recognize the room's existence, feeling it was one of those things better left unsaid. I was not one to be denied though so I stepped forth into the room once more to make my stand, to better acknowledge my weaknesses."

"This opponent made her presences known, acknowledging both how courageous and foolish I was to step forth into her domain. I gave her no time to wield the silver chain she held, charging head forth into battle knowing that I was likely outclassed. I never imagined just to what degree. She played with me, laughing at my attempts to strike her before deciding to end the façade. I may have blocked six, perhaps as many as eight attempts at my life before she strung me up, the entire time she had been fleeing she had been preparing a trap. I expected life to fade from me once more, simply predicting she would end it quickly."

"I was a fool."

"What happened?" asked Ruby, leaning so far over her desk she threatened to collapse on the students in front of her.

"Dissection would be an accurate word as she tore me apart piece by piece, enjoying the sounds of agony, my cries of pain music to her ears. While you may not retain physical injuries you are by no means safe. Every now and again I can sense her chain tighten around my wrists as she plows a dagger into my stomach with such precision that she knows where the vitals are and how to avoid them. I hope you can understand just how dangerous this is and why so many students opt not to tread down this path. I did so solely because you can sometimes learn more from your losses than you can from your victories; and so ends todays lesson."

"Class dismissed."

…

"We have to do it!" Ruby proclaimed boldly, almost salivating at the thought.

"Are you kidding? You heard Professor Oobleck how dangerous that simulation is," exclaimed Weiss, wanting no part of the dangerous program.

"It's only damage that happens to our minds though," said Ruby believing that to be a perfectly respectable counter argument.

"It does sound like an amazing way to train," said Blake as she looked up momentarily from the book she was reading. For the better part she wasn't fazed by the prospect of fighting some of the theoretically strongest people that had ever lived. She would simply follow the team leader regardless of what her decision was. Thankfully with whatever decision Ruby made she felt that the consequences would not be dire.

"You're not helping," scolded Weiss.

"I bet there's one guy who shoots lasers out of his eyes and breathes our fire," squealed Ruby as her imagination got the better of her. "No no no, there'll be a guy with eight swords rapping as he fights us."

"How does one even wield eight swords?" asked Yang.

"Who cares, it'll be awesome!"

"Regardless of whether or not we want to do it, we still need to get permission from Professor Ozpin," said Weiss still trying her best to disarm the situation. "We're a group of first year students who are only just learning what it means to be Huntresses. Even if this training is as beneficial as it could potentially be, there must be a reason why only students in their final year are permitted entry."

Weiss' words seemed to hit the mark as she visibly deflated, the realization that they needed their principle of all people to allow them entry brought the situation back to reality. It was at this moment however that Nora came screeching down the hall, nearly tumbling over herself before she stopped mere feet away from where Team RWBY stood. "Guy's you'll never guess what we just got permission to do," she said, fists clenched together in excitement. "The only catch is that we need to take you guys with us. So come on, let's go!"

To the surprise of the members of Team RWBY, actually asking Professor Ozpin was seemingly all it took.

…

"So that was it, you just went and asked?" Ruby asked of her fellow team leader as the two teams marched towards their destination.

"Yea, well the four of us haven't actually had much practice fighting as a group yet so it seemed like the perfect chance," said Jaune, doing his best to hide the fear in his voice. The two teams were currently situated in what looked like an abandoned corridor, grotesque statues of grimm and other manner of beasts were lined up along the walls gathering more than their fair share of dust.

"Do you think that they deliberately prevent themselves from cleaning this area to make people second guess themselves?" Pyrrah asked of the two teams. "The statues are getting larger the further we go. The mere fact that we will be facing a seemingly unbeatable enemy while surrounded by these stone monsters would frighten many warriors."

"No kidding," said Jaune with a light chuckle.

"We started this journey as a team, it only seems fair that we see it through as a team," said Ren.

"Screw just seeing it through, we're going to win!" proclaimed Nora, swinging her Warhammer around as if it were nothing but a baton.

"Heck yea!" agreed Yang as she smashed her fists together, the ring of her gauntlets colliding with one another echoing around them.

Finally they reached their destination, a singular door at the end of the hall. Despite the rough shape the rest of the hallway looked the door itself was immaculate, intricate carvings decorated the polished oak painting the vivid brown color with splashes of gold and crimson. The handle was curved in nature and the silver texture glinted with the few beads of sunlight that trickled past the nearby grimm statue's head. All in all, it looked completely out of place.

"Well guys," said Jaune as he pulled a key out of his pocket. "Are we ready?"

The affirmative response was all that was needed for him to step forward and place the key in the lock, unlocking it and opening the door. It was surprising however to see nothing but an eerie white escape the room with no actual indication of there being much behind there. Of course that didn't stop Ruby from charging in alongside Nora, the rest of the teams quickly following before the door slammed shut behind them.

The members of Team RWBY and Team JNPR braced themselves as the battlefield they were expected to fight in formed around them, all of them tense and at the ready for the battle they were going to face. Yang was excited at the prospect, the idea of the challenge ahead exciting her down to the core.

As the white light dispersed they found themselves in an area they hadn't thought would be suitable for a war. Stone pavements lined the path as the combination of starlight and a few flickering lanterns bathed the world around them in a sliver of light. On either side of them was fog that was slowly dissipating into the night around them. "This is astounding," said Weiss. "It feels like we've stepped foot into a completely different world."

"Agreed," said Ren as he lowered his weapons slightly as he took the time to absorb the atmosphere around them. Even though it had been the middle of the day when they had stepped forth into this pocket dimension (he hadn't constructed a better phrase for the room than that at this stage) there was now a chilly breeze surrounding him on what felt like a cold autumn night.

"Wow!" squealed both Nora and Ruby, both awed by what the room was capable of.

"Guy's I don't like to be the bearer of bad news, but take a look around," said Jaune as the air cleared and the fog that had blocked much of their sight parted and revealed the landscape around them.

"Are those…" started Pyrrah as she realized just what kind of landscape they were standing in.

"Tombstones," declared Blake as the graveyard came into full view. Miles upon miles of tombstones lined up neatly caused her to swallow a lump that had caught in her throat. Her faunus instincts kicked into gear as she heard the sound of footsteps coming towards them. "Get ready!"

Her word was answered swiftly as the eight of them instantly remembered just what danger lurked within this world. "My, my, what young children have stumbled into my realm," said a petite voice as a small girl stepped into view dressed in a purple winter coat that covered her from the shoulders to her ankles. Hair as white as snow lapsed down her neck as she eyed them cautiously with red eyes. For someone they had to fight though she held no weapon in which to face them with.

"Umm, I think you're a little young to be calling us children," said Ruby noting that despite being the youngest one there their opponent seemed to be even younger still.

"Is that so," she said with a smile. "My name is Illyasviel Von Einzbern, might I know your name in exchange?"

"Ruby Rose," answered the leader of team RWBY, earning a light scolding from Weiss.

"Don't tell the opponents information like that!"

"Sorry."

"Ruby Rose," mused Ilya. "I think I shall have you die first."

The casual tone in which the child in front of them talked about death sent all of their alert systems to maximum. Instead of coming at them however she turned and started walking away. The words she spoke however were clear as day.

"Get them Berserker."

The two teams heard the monster that had been summoned forth before they saw him, his bellow ringing in their ears driving all of their attention upwards towards where the moon hung above them. Part of the illuminate orb however was blocked by the monstrosity rocketing towards them and it was only out of natural instinct that they all dove to the side, scrambling away as the creature landed right in the middle of where they had been standing, the pavements cracking under the weight.

It took a moment to compose himself as the eight students took the time to study their true opponent, all of them gathering that the girl was just the introductory part of this lesson. Berserker turned out to be a man wearing a leather tunic, though the term monster still seemed more appropriate. He was taller than the Ursa that lived in the woods and was far more imposing. Muscles upon muscles adorned the man's body giving none of them belief that they would be able to match him blow for blow. Hair as black as ash draped his skull as golden eyes scanned those around him. His weapon, for all it's intimidation value, was quite primitive being nothing more than a stone sword.

Somehow it felt far stronger than all of the weapons combined.

"Fire!" shouted Jaune, giving the command and snapping all of his friends out of their stupor.

Gunfire and Dust rained down on the man in an onslaught that would harm the mightiest of Grim, ammunition being expelled at the quickest rate possible. The man however simply stood there, not even acknowledging the mosquito bites that were irritating his skin. His flesh began to glow red as he roared out into the night before he charged forward, his target selected.

The speed in which Berserker moved shocked all of them and Jaune could only raise his shield in desperation as the monster struck at him. Despite successfully having blocked the blow Jaune was sent soaring through the graveyard, his body plowing through several tombstones before he finally came to a halt, coughing and gagging as blood dribbled from his lips.

One blow and his aura was depleted.

How strong was Berserker?

Yang was dying to find out.

Having sensed that long range attacks would do nothing, Yang had closed the distance between her and her target moving far faster than normal due to the seals that Weiss had placed beneath her feet. Leaping over a sweeping blow, Yang sent several explosives punches directly at Berserker's head but before she got the chance to celebrate the killing blow, Berserker's spare hand plucked her out of the air and tossed her aside like a rag doll.

"We need to disarm him," declared Pyrrah fearing that anyone struck by the stone blade directly would not be resuming the fight, Jaune was still struggling to get to his feet after having blocked a blow. A clean strike would likely end the fight right there and then and it was clear as he steadied himself that he knew it.

Ren started running around Berserker in circles, peppering his back with a multitude of bullets trying to get his attention to no avail. From his standpoint however he could tell that the beast of a man was aiming up his next target. "Brace yourselves," he shouted but it was seemingly too late as Berserker charged forward, his target clearly set.

Weiss' eyes widened as the behemoth charged at her before she put all of her training into action. She knew from the speed he was travelling that he was much faster than her so even if she tried to avoid the first swing of his stone blade there was no guarantee that she would avoid the second and after having watched Jaune get blown away defending wasn't even an option. So, she went on the attack. Spinning the chamber on Myrtenaster, she locked it onto the red chamber and prepared to use every grain of fire based Dust at her disposal.

She swung her blade and the explosion was deafening as Berserker was consumed by flames and she smirked. For all but a single moment as Berserker charged through the explosion with no sign of damage, his weapon raised high above his head. Weiss could only watch on in horror as the weapon was swung in her direction before she felt herself being forcibly shoved to the side. As she was pushed out of the way of the attack, her eyes watching on in shock as Jaune gave her the smallest of smiles right as the stone weapon cleaved him in two.

"JAUNE!" shouted Pyrrah as Jaune's body broke into golden fragments in a matter of seconds. It seemed to be the way the room showed that Jaune was sent back to the existence outside of this hellhole but everybody was seemingly in shock from having watched their friend die.

"One down, seven to go," Ilya's voice rang out in a singsong manner. Surprisingly it was Pyrrah who acted first, charging at Berserker and thrusting her spear at him as hard as she could. The weapon was batted away but Pyrrah did not lay up on her assault as she used the momentum to twist on the spot and create a small gash in Berserker's left leg with the tip of her spear. The tiniest of wounds to a mountain of a man but that was not the point. Every second that she could keep Berserker occupied was another second in which the other six fighters could come up with a way to defeat this monster.

Yang, meanwhile, exploded from the crater she had found herself in, debris momentarily floating around her as she looked at her target with bright red eyes. With him being currently occupied by Pyrrah, the blonde haired warrior sprung forth, crossing the distance within a matter of seconds with her gauntlet pulled back and a roar in her voice. She could faintly hear the voice of her sister call out to her but she paid it little attention as she threw all of her strength into her punch, connecting sweetly with the exposed jaw of Berserker.

All of her strength managed to move Berserker a whole three steps before he regained his balance and roared much more terrifyingly than when Yang had.

…

"Guys, we need a plan," said Ruby as Yang and Pyrrah continued on the assault, their combined attack keeping Berserker on the back foot for the moment.

"Anybody got any suggestions?" Ren asked of those nearby.

"I'll tag in with Pyrrah, my semblance should be able to keep him guessing," declared Blake.

"Go," commanded Ruby, the member of her team obeying her orders and charging forward knowing that a single misstep could result in her ending up like Jaune.

"Alright, now what?" asked Nora.

"If my last attack was anything to go by this man is basically unstoppable," said Weiss, still coming to grips with how close she had been to being bisected.

"We entered a supposedly unwinnable fight, we left all rights to complain when we entered this place," said Ren knowing that there was very little he could contribute to the fight at this point. Unlike Pyrrah's weapon, his utensils (which was what they deserved to be called at the moment) didn't have any sharp or serrated edges to deal any melee damage on the proviso he got close enough to actually attack Berserker.

"That's still not a plan Ren," said Nora.

"Buzzsaw," said Ruby slowly. The other three hunters and huntresses in training looked at her in confusion as a slow grin spread across her face. "Weiss, I'm going to need you to amplify the speed of Nora's hammer which is going to launch me at him, and while in the air I'm going to be spinning like a mad woman and maybe, just maybe, cut him down to size."

"That…could actually work," said Ren, understanding fully that he didn't have a part to play at the moment. He understood also that if anything were to go wrong he would be needed to ensure that everything remained okay.

A scream of pain ringing out from Yang informed them that whatever plan they had formed need to be enacted immediately.

...

Blake used her semblance at a rapid rate, shadows of herself appearing and allowing her to escape mere moments away from devastation. Despite her enhanced reflexes, she was struggling to ensure that she walked away from this battle. For so long all she had known how to do was run from injury, run from a fight. Now though was far different from any other situation she had ever been in. She was running with a purpose.

She had been unable to get Pyrrah out of the fight however.

Blake has instructed Pyrrah to back off, to let her and Yang hold Berserker back but Pyrrah hadn't paid any attention to it. Unlike the calm and composed warrior that she was, Pyrrah was fully intent on ending this battle one way or another. Her actions were speaking for her and her skill as a fighter was on full display. The problem was that she wasn't thinking of the bigger picture, and Blake had read enough sappy novels to understand why.

While Pyrrah was thinking that she was fighting to bide time, that was only the excuse that she gave herself. If what Blake was hypothesizing was right, Pyrrah wanted revenge. Revenge against Berserker for killing Jaune. They had only been partners for little more than a couple of weeks but it clearly mattered not. An act like this on the battlefield could wind up with her own or another comrades death. Blake would be sure to confront Pyrrah about this afterwards; regardless of the situation one should always think about survival before all else, for both themselves and those around them.

Her thoughts were shattered as she felt a giant fist crash into her side, Berserker having taken gut instinct over sight as he attacked where she had actually been and knocked her square into Yang, the two members of team RWBY crashing against a nearby tree that threatened to topple over.

Pyrrah continued to fight but it was clear that now it was back to one on one that she was losing ground. She was beginning to tire, her movements starting to slow while it seemed as if Berserker had yet to break a sweat. Her shield was knocked to the side from Berserker's latest blow and she could already see the follow up swing aim squarely at her. Feeling that this was the end, she struck out, her spear propelling forward and cleaving into Berserker's right eye.

That did little to stop his attack.

His howl of rage was the last thing she heard as death swiftly overcame her and she vanished from this world. Of course this was all the opening that the rest of the squad needed.

Ruby was propelled forward much faster than she could with her semblance, rotating as quickly as she could with her scythe outstretched. Blake and Yang in their crumpled heap could only watch as the whirling blur of red death crashed into and consequently through Berserker's collar, almost tearing off his arm in the process.

A painful roar escaped Berserker's lips as the light began to fade from his eyes, not before spotting one last target and launching his sword forward. Nora couldn't react in time but was thankfully spared a painful death by her aura having not been effected thus far. Having it all blown away in a matter of moments wasn't a pleasant feeling regardless.

Ruby, stumbled out of the nearby woods, barely able to stand up straight as she wobbled from side to side. "Did we get him?" she asked as she leant against an undamaged tombstone in order to remain upright.

"He's dead," declared Ren.

"But at what cost?" asked Blake of the group as she got to her feet, albeit with a bit of a struggle. Thankfully though Yang was there with her and they mutually agreed in silence to lean against one another. "Sure this is a training exercise but think about it, we lost two members and most of us are unable to put up anything reminiscent of a fight after this."

"I believe congratulations are in order," Ilya's voice rang out from nearby, her voice seemingly surrounding them making it almost impossible to pinpoint where she was. "To think that you were able to take away one of Berserker's lives."

"One?" repeated Weiss as all attention shifted back to the behemoth of a man, watching in horror as his wound stitched itself back together and eyes shot open as life returned to him.

"One down, eleven to go, good luck."

As the remaining members of Team JNPR and Team RWBY braced themselves, Berserker rose to his feet, his mere presence causing the ground beneath him to crack and split. Not a single wound from the previous battle remained upon his body.

Berserker roared.

…

Jaune stepped back into the hospital ward, seven flowers gripped within his hand, one for each of his friends. He had been first to awake, having found that true to Professor Oobleck's prediction, someone had managed to stumble across him and his team while they had been unconscious and had brought them here.

He had yet to discover how the rest of the fight had gone, none of his allies having awoken before he had gotten the all clear. Considering that they had all been asleep when he had gone to collect the flowers he could only imagine how the battle had concluded.

That Berserker though, that was something else entirely. If that truly was the embodiment of a hero from years gone past he felt sorry for all those who crossed its path. The sheer power radiating off of him when he hadn't even gotten serious was terrifying, it had only been through horror that Jaune had ordered everyone to open fire. Every part of him wanted to flee from that fight but he had been able to tell straight away that if he had lost sight of the battle he would have been slain in an instant.

It was terrifying.

As he turned the corner, Jaune was pleasantly surprised to find that the other members of both his team and that of Team RWBY had awoken yet it was eerie as they all sat in silence. Jaune felt that he already knew what they were all thinking about. He could tell from their expression that the rest of the battle had not gone to plan. He had felt weak, helpless, the only good thing he had done was save the life of someone who would have been able to provide better support than him.

It clearly hadn't helped in the greater scheme of things.

"Hey guys," said Jaune in as cheery a tone as he could to try and lighten the mood. He found it odd that Pyrrah was the person to react the most to his comment, pushing herself off of her bed and marching straight towards him and wrapping him up in a hug so tight that threatened to bruise his muscles. Being the clueless teenager that he was, Jaune had no idea how to react at first before he fiund his arms circling around and embracing Pyrrah. "Thanks," he said weakly, not really sure why he was receiving the hug in the first place.

"Aww, you even got her flowers," said Nora spotting the brightly coloured flora currently held within Jaune's hand. Her comment seemed to get Pyrrah to release her grip almost instantly before she looked at the flowers.

Jaune wanted to say that he had gotten one for everyone but at the moment it only seemed right that he do what his male intuitive was demanding of him. "They're for you," he said softly, Pyrrah taking them from his grip and clutching them tightly.

"Thank you," she said in little more than a whisper before quickly scurrying back to the safety of her hospital bed.

Even though the atmosphere in the room had been raised by Jaune's simple act of kindness, all thoughts soon returned to the horrors of the room they had previously entered. Deep down, despite how much they wished to say otherwise, they all knew that it wasn't the last time they would face such a monster.

They had gotten a taste of the strength of a true hero.

There was no telling what the strength of the next hero would be like.

…

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **I love both RWBY and Fate/Stay Night but have never actually come up with a good enough story to be put in either world. So as I do in such cases, I smash them both together and see what creation I can make. It seemed fitting, to me at least, that Beacon Academy would have more training facilities than what was showed during the season so I tried to incorporate that kind of idea and this is what happened.**

 **Not sure if I'll continue on to be honest. More likely than not it would just be random one shots incorporating students vs heroes but with my ever changing mindset that could be thrown out the window as of tomorrow.**

 **Regardless, let me know what you think and perhaps what kind of matchups you would find enjoyable. See ya.**


	2. Facing Fear

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **…**

Weiss drummed her fingers along her desk, only half paying attention to the class at hand. Their fight against that monstrosity had only been a couple of days ago but it still felt as if she was in the heat of battle. She had been watching everybody's reactions after the fight and she was somewhat relieved to see that she wasn't that nearly everybody else had been shaken up something fierce.

Except perhaps for Blake but she hadn't known the black haired huntress in training long enough to read her facial expressions cleanly as of yet.

The one that had suffered the most in her opinion had been Ruby. The usually bubbly and charismatic leader of their group had barely said anything since the fight. Actually taking a moment to think about it, Weiss wasn't sure Ruby had even spoken at all since the battle.

The member of the Schnee dynasty turned her head slightly to look at the leader of their team, her partner. Even though she was looking from a side on angle, some of the brightness had seemingly been sapped from Ruby's features. None of them had talked about what had happened after the bout, as if it were some kind of taboo but she knew that Ruby had still been fighting when she had been 'killed,' a thought which sent shivers down her spine. Berserker had picked up the pace after his 'death' and actually then seemed to be taking the fight seriously. The mere thought that that hulking beast had actually been holding back on them for the majority of the fight was terrifying.

Then there had been Ilya herself.

During the heat of the battle while trying to draw breath the petite girl's singsong voice continued to taunt them, telling them all the while how fruitless their chances of success were and how they were foolish to think they ever had a hope of winning. It had been infuriating, not so because of the timing of it all but the sheer fact that it was true. It's not like they squandered their chances, they never had a chance to begin with.

Was she so weak?

She felt liquid running in her palm and looked at the inside of her hand to see that she had formed a fist so tight her nails had cut into her skin. Grumbling something incoherent, Weiss applied pressure to her newfound injury and tried to focus once more on the task at hand. As a member of the Schnee family, she would be able to overcome such troublesome thoughts, overcome these fears, overcome…overcome…

No.

Correction.

As Weiss Schnee, a first year huntress in training, it was well within her right to make mistakes and learn from them. Which was why she was going to make another stupid mistake later today.

…

Jaune heard the knocking at his door and looked up from his desk, his homework half completed. Unlike the rest of his team he had wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible. No point in rushing it all at the last minute after all. "Who is it?" he asked.

"It's me."

"Weiss?" he said in shock as he got up from his seat. Walking over to the door, he opened it to find the white haired warrior standing opposite him. "Hey, uhh, what's up?"

"You still have that key from Professor Ozpin right?" she asked of him.

"Hmm, oh, you mean the one to that room," surmised Jaune. "Professor Ozpin said he had a couple spare and to hold onto it as long as I felt was necessary. Why?"

"I need to borrow it," Weiss declared.

"For you or for Ruby?" asked Jaune, Weiss visibly wincing at the mention of her team leader. "Don't pretend you're not the only one to have noticed. While you have Ruby as your happy go lucky girl, we have Nora who had to cuddle up with Ren the first night after our fight. It helped a bit but well, you know."

"Don't pretend you know anything," scolded Weiss.

"I have seven sisters Weiss, I've been there helping them through fights, break ups and stuff that I wasn't allowed to know," said Jaune with a small smile before he walked over to his desk, opened up a drawer and pulled out an all too familiar key. "Each of my sisters needed something different to return to themselves and I can't tell you if this will work for Ruby, just know that if she stays the same that it just means you're going to have to try something else."

Weiss bit at the inside of her lips as she looked at the key that Jaune held out in front of him. She lifted her hand and noticed that it was trembling slightly. She gripped at her wrist with her other hand but it was clear as day that she was scared. Of course she was scared! She was going to take an object that unlocked a room where she would be killed. In the back of her mind, Ilya's voice was calling her an idiot for wanting to die but she pushed the thought back as far as she could.

Grinding her teeth, she snagged the key in one swift motion from Jaune's grasp and mumbled something reminiscent of thanks before turning around and marching straight into her room, slamming the door behind her. Her other hand lifted up to her chest where she could feel her accelerated heartbeat thumping in her chest. Even now, the key she held felt as if it was radiating a powerful aura, demanding her to let go.

Shoving the key into the pocket of her skirt, Weiss marched to where the weapons in their room were currently stored. While they should be locked away, Ruby had taken it upon herself to clean them this morning without informing them beforehand, something which, while grateful was mildly irritating at the same time. Weiss grabbed hold of both Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster before storming out, leaving a very confused Blake and Yang looking at the door to their bedroom.

"You think everything's okay?" Blake asked of her partner.

"They're probably getting some training done," said Yang.

"Will Ruby be alright?" asked Blake.

"She'll bounce back, Weiss probably just needs to knock some sense into her first," said Yang as she put her hands behind her head. "When Weiss starts attacking her, Ruby will switch on."

Blake momentarily thought of mentioning the key that Weiss had been holding on to but knew that alerting Yang of the dangerous situation that Weiss wished to put Ruby in would only drag the older sibling plus herself into the mix. Not really feeling like dying again so soon, Blake made no more comments as she lifted up the novel she had been reading.

…

It wasn't hard to track Ruby down, the silver eyed girl having spent much of her spare time by the statue located in the middle of the school square. The construct of a brave hunter was meant to be an inspiration to those taking their first steps into Beacon Academy. Weiss had thought little of it at the time but she could see why Ruby would be trying to take any sort of mental reinforcement that she could. Any little bit of extra morale was all she needed.

Weiss was going to give it to her one way or another.

"Here," she said, startling her team leader as she threw Crescent Rose at her. Ruby gasped in shock at her precious weapon being treated in such a way but was thankfully able to grab hold of it before it hit the ground and potentially got a scratch. Before she could yell at Weiss for handling her things with such disrespect, her hand was grasped tightly and Weiss started leading her away, the sun starting to set in the distance.

"What…" she started, the first word she had seemingly said in what felt like forever.

"You've spent this much time quiet, you can spend another couple minutes in silence," said Weiss as she continued to drag Ruby through the halls of the academy. Unsure of everything that was happening at the moment, Ruby simply complied as she was forcibly taken through several corridors, ever getting closer to what she feared their destionation was. As they stopped down the familiar corridor with the all too terrifying statues however she knew what was going to happen.

"Weiss…"

"No Ruby," said Weiss, stopping Ruby's thought process before she believed it had even been formed. "The times where I have seen you at your best are when you fight unspeakable odds. In the forest during the test, you took out a Grimm which would make the most experienced Hunters quiver in their boots. When I got dragged out to the front of the class, you shouted out the weakness of the Grimm I was facing and told me how to defeat it, despite the fact I had the matter completely under control. Even against Berserker, you were the only one to have some manner of idea on how to kill him. If a fight put you into the funk you in now then I believe all that you need is the right situation and you'll be back to normal, or at least as normal as you are."

"I can't go back Weiss," said Ruby, almost in a terrified tone.

"Why not? Is it because of what Berserker did to you?" demanded Weiss, determined to get Ruby to see the reality of the situation. "If you don't recall, I got cleaved in two."

"It wasn't Berserker…"

"It wasn't Berserker what? Face it Ruby, we were outclassed when we thought we stood a chance. If we go in already knowing that we don't have a chance, what harm can it do? We can go in and fight a far tougher opponent to our hearts content. Isn't this something you want to do?"

"It wasn't Berserker…"

"What? What about Berserker?" asked Weiss, somewhat sick of Ruby starting the same question over again.

"It wasn't Berserker that killed me!" screamed Ruby, her emotions getting the better of her at that moment. Weiss, who had had all of the retorts in her arsenal about how she needed to get over the fact she had been killed by a beast of a man, was rendered momentarily speechless. "When you, and Blake, and Yang, and all of JNPR were dead all that was left was me. I'd just watched all of my team get killed, each of you dying doing your best. What was my best? Being a hacksaw! I made myself a tool for the betterment of the team and it didn't even do anything!"

Weiss thought for a moment to stop Ruby in her train of thought but chose not to solely to see where this was going. "Everyone was dead and then it was me against him," continued Ruby, tears starting to swell in her eyes. "I didn't even get the chance to avenge you; despite knowing that there was no point and that I was going to die regardless of whether or not I could even scratch him, Ilyasval called him off."

Again, Weiss wanted to stop Ruby's thought process and inform her that Illyaviel's name wasn't pronounced that way but chose against it for the sole purpose of seeing where this was going. "That little girl, the one we practically dismissed at the start of the whole thing told me, told Berserker to stand down," said Ruby, tears openly streaming down her face now. She moved to wipe away the streaks but Weiss beat her to it, pulling out a small white handkerchief and dabbing the cloth just underneath Ruby's eyes. "Thank you," said Ruby softly.

"Your welcome," replied Weiss, a genuine smile on her face before she resumed her quest for answers. "Now, what did Ilya do?" she asked, using a shortened version of Illyasviel's which Ruby was more likely to say correctly.

"She called him off," said Ruby slowly. "He was right there, ready to kill me and then she just chimes in for Berserker to stop. He backed away and then she stepped forward and spoke to me. She said that if she were to die, Berserker would fade from existence. If I were to kill her, I would be be able to avenge all of you. She even gave me an open shot, told me to put a bullet right between her eyes."

"You couldn't do it," said Weiss compassionately.

"I tried to kill her."

Those few words shocked Weiss, the mere thought that Ruby had tried to kill a small child morally wounding her. "I wasn't thinking straight, I'd just watched you all die and even though I knew it was all a big training thing it still hurt and I thought if I killed her it would stop hurting," continued Ruby. "I was angry, I wanted to hurt her for having commanded him to kill us. So I shot her, and even that did nothing!"

"What do you mean?" asked Weiss.

"She had these wire dove things that floated around her and stopped the bullet in it's path. At first there were two but each one I killed Ilya only made more and then one transformed into a sword that looked really cool, right before it speared me through the chest! It was just, arrggghhh!"

"There, there," said Weiss happy that Ruby was finally showing some manner of emotion. The idea though that she had knowingly attacked a young girl was somewhat unexpected but she couldn't really blame her. Perhaps this was why Ozpin had made Ruby the leader of their team in the first place, because she was willing to do the tasks that nobody else on their team would. Well at least she hoped the other members of RWBY wouldn't willingly attack a young girl but she'd leave that thought process for another time. "Now, what say you and I go get ourselves beat to hell?"

"What do you mean?"

"One of the quickest ways to get stronger is by facing stronger enemies, you can't get better if all you're doing is picking on the weak," said Weiss. "Now, you and I are going to march down this corridor, go through that door and get our behinds handed to us. We are not going to go down easy. We will fight whoever it is with all of our strength, with all of our technique and we will die in a blaze of glory!" Weiss took a moment to think of the words she had just said wondering where that speech had come from.

"Alright," said Ruby as she gripped onto Crescent Rose a touch tighter. Weiss wanted to fight and die alongside her, as team leader it was her responsibility to help her teammates see things through, even if it accumulated in a simulated death. Her eyes rose up to stare directly at her partner, the tears having dried up. "Let's do this."

…

Dusk. A golden glow encased them as they shielded their eyes from the sun's rays. "Where are we this time?" asked Ruby as she and Weiss looked around their surroundings. Thankfully they weren't in cemetery like last time but it was almost as unnerving.

"A church, really?" said Weiss as she looked at the nearby building, two hedges connecting the corners of the building to the iron gate behind them. Several seconds passed before Weiss allowed herself to exhale a sigh of relief. "For a moment there I thought we'd be killed without even knowing our opponent."

"Oh, I wouldn't do something like that, not my style you see," said a man's voice, causing both Weiss and Ruby to point their weapons towards the rooftop where they saw their opponent looking down at them with a predatory smile. "So a couple cute girls have decided to pay me a visit, I do hope you show me a good time."

…

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **Thank you all for the suggestions you sent me and the positive reception for this story. I hope you enjoy this latest outing. Cyber cookies for all who guess the opponent of the day. Have a good one.**


	3. A Cursed Battle

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **…**

Weiss and Ruby stood close to one another as they watched the man scale down the side of the building with grace. He wore a blue bodysuit adorned with silver linings that glistened in the sunlight. His weapon of choice was a deep red spear, intricate designs interweaved over the entirety of the construct. "Your weapon looks amazing!" squealed Ruby, unable to help herself. Weiss meanwhile couldn't help but allow herself to smile slightly at the fact that Ruby had seemingly returned to her old self.

"Not terrified at all, are ya," said their opponent with a smile as he walked up to them with steady paces. Both Ruby and Weiss quickly remembered that every person this room housed theoretically had the power to kill them in a multitude of ways and as such they got into defensive positions. "Hey now, don't be like that. Tiny there said that my weapon looks amazing, I want to know if you'd be interested in taking a closer look?"

"Of course!"

"Wait," commanded Weiss as she grabbed hold of Ruby's shoulder. "By closer look do you mean by plunging it into her stomach!"

Ruby seemed to stiffen at the thought but was perplexed as the person in front of them laughed it off. "Well, that's the end of the plan but between now and then, there's no reason for us not to be civil now is there?" the man asked as he held out his weapon in the palm of his hand. Not being one to hold herself back, Ruby ripped through Weiss' grip and grabbed at the weapon on display before her.

"It's beautiful," she said as she admired the handiwork.

"How does it feel?" asked the man.

"Light, swift," started Ruby.

"No," he interrupted. "How does it, really, feel?"

"…Powerful."

"That's right," said the man as he ripped it from Ruby's hands before twirling it several times behind his back as he distanced himself from the duo. "This isn't just any old weapon. This weapon has been carried through battle after battle, bathing in the blood of the enemy and carried by one of the greatest spearman of all time."

"Which would be you," said Weiss in a deadpanned voice.

"Lancer, at your service," said the heroic spirit as he lay his fabled weapon upon his shoulders as casually as he could. "Now that I've introduced myself I believe it only fair that you fair ladies do the same."

"Ruby Rose," said the scythe wielding huntress in training, twirling her own weapon several times trying to replicate what Lancer had done.

Sighing, she swung her rapier several times before introducing herself, wondering the entire while if this was how combatants introduced one another. "Weiss Schnee," she said introducing herself.

"Alright now, here's the big question," said Lancer as he embedded the tip of his spear into the ground and leant against it. "Who was it you last fought?"

"Pardon?" asked Weiss.

"Your eyes, your stance, your attitude, it all screams that this isn't your first time in here," said Lancer, his eyes sharpening slightly.

"You mean to tell me, that every occupant of this room is capable of individual thought?" asked Weiss.

"Much more than that," said Lancer with a smile.

Weiss could barely contain herself at that piece of information. What kind of glyphs or runes were being used in the first place to construct such a phenomenon were hard to believe in to begin with, but to such a degree that the beings created within were capable of such recognition merely from an observation? This was beyond anything she had ever read. "Just what are you?" she asked.

"That, unfortunately, is not a question I am able to answer," said Lancer as he ripped his spear from the cobblestones it had been embedded in. "Now it's been a while since I last got summoned here so I hope the two of you can entertain me."

Ruby and Weiss once again braced themselves, choosing to temporarily ignore the fact that Lanced seemed capable of remembering the last time he was summoned regardless of the fact he was created from nothing. Weiss was the first to move, using a speed enhancing glyph beneath her to charge forward as quickly as she could, Myrtenaster thrusting forward with the intent to pierce Lancer where he stood. Instead of blocking the attack like she thought he would however he merely sidestepped, allowing the blow to pass by him without restraint before lashing out with a kick, one which connected cleanly with her abdomen. Bile and blood escaped her lips as she was blown backwards, crashing into Ruby's waiting arms, the petite girl sliding several feet backwards from the collision.

"Alright," said Lancer as he casually placed his spear behind his head once again. "For a first effort it wasn't terrible but let me say, it was still pretty bad." As ruby allowed Weiss to return to her feat, she readied her scythe for action. "Are you going to show me your conviction now little one?"

His comment made, Lancer once again weaved to the side in order avoid the slash that Ruby made into the spot he had been standing. Once ore he evaded by ducking beneath the horizontal attack she made before lifting his lance up to block the follow up attack. "Not a bad combination," he said as he forcibly pushed her weapon to the side, forcing her balance off and swiftly getting behind her. Without any warning, his spear crossed over her neck before he pulled backwards, choking her.

"Now then," Lancer said as he forcibly dragged his prey across so that she could look squarely at Weiss while she struggled fruitlessly to pry the crimson weapon from her throat. "Your teammate is in peril, her body blocks a clean attack, what do you do?"

Weiss meanwhile had no idea what to do in such a situation, one she realized could become very true one day were they not careful. Ruby, despite her situation, tried to fight on and swung Crimson Rose behind her back only for Lancer to adjust his grip as the tip of Ruby's scythe almost pierced into his flesh. Instead of doing so, Lancer had manage to grasp the blade of the weapon mere inches from his exposed stomach, his bare fingers enough to grip into the metal and prevent it from travelling any further. "I'll admit, that was a nice try and were your teammate there able to create any form of distraction it might have worked," said Lancer as he pulled his spear back, allowing Ruby to breathe once more before he gently kicked at her back, pushing her forward to where Weiss was standing.

Like Ruby had less than a minute prior, Weiss grasped onto her partner as she was tossed at her, thankfully though she wasn't forced to skid several metres behind where she was standing. "You two came in here for training," stated Lancer as he twirled his spear in front of him several times over. "Because of such I was brought to this plain of existence and if this is all you can give me then I'm disappointed."

"Yea, well then, let's see…"

"Stop right there," said Lancer as he put his hand up. "While your eagerness is admirable it is worthless until you and your partner actually work out your roles between yourselves."

"And just why are you helping us?" asked Weiss. "As you've loosely made mention, you are merely a construct of this room, what benefit is there for you in treating us like you are?"

A sigh escaped Lancer's lips before he gave his answer. "While you may call it a 'room' this, in and of itself, is my home. Sure I'm not exactly here from time to time but I sure as hell remember what it is I have done and likewise with all the other Heroic Spirits who are summoned to this plane of existence. This room serves as both my prison and my sanctuary because so long as teenagers like you need to be brought back down to Earth people like me are going to show you what reality is."

Ruby and Weiss had no comeback for his declaration and both just stood there with differentiating levels of uncertainty. "While the two of you are dissecting what I said, I'll leave the two of you with a simpler challenge," said Lancer as he twirled his spear several times before stopping with the barb pointed at the two students. "Defeat me and survive, lose to me and die. And just cause I'm in a sporting mood I'll go easy on ya."

While Ruby may not have realized that that had been an insult, Weiss certainly had and acted accordingly. Three almost simultaneous strikes were lashed out but Lancer parried each with ease before gracefully leaping over Weiss' head and thrusting downwards. The member of the Schnee family managed to dodge most of the attack but was still slashed down her right arm, blood swiftly dribbling from the wound. Ruby's eyes widened as she wondered why Weiss' aura had already been depleted so quickly that such a move had already cut her. "You seem surprised," said Lancer with a smirk as he thrust at Ruby, the scythe wielder quickly on the defensive as she knocked the tip of the spear to the side. It came back beneath her guard however and sliced into her thigh just enough to draw blood.

"But how, my aura?" questioned Ruby as she grit her teeth through the pain.

"Ah yes, the aura which you use to protect yourself," said Lancer as he blocked Weiss' attempt to attack him from behind without even looking. If Weiss was shocked her attack had been thwarted she had little time to show it as she ducked to avoid a blow which very well may have separated her head from her shoulders. "While it may help you normally, it'll do no such thing against Gae Bolg."

"But why?" asked Ruby before she shuffled backwards as the tip of the spear threatened to gouge out her eye.

"You should have felt it earlier when you held onto it," said Lancer. "This isn't just any kind of weapon. Gae Bolg is cursed."

Ruby shivered at the mere thought that such a beautiful weapon was cursed in any way shape or form. Had Weiss not felt it for herself she would have doubted such a proclamation. "Now, why are the two of you losing at the moment?" Lancer asked of the two girls as he twirled his spear around several times before blocking Ruby's frontal assault. He almost danced around the attacks, ever inching closer into her guard. Before she could react his foot lashed out and crashed into her ribs, thankfully such an attack from his was still protected by her aura but it was good a message as any.

Weiss chose to momentarily retreat to Ruby's side, standing in front of her defensively. "Why mock us with such a question," she demanded of Lancer who seemingly was willing to wait for Ruby to get back to her feet and regain her breath. "You're stronger, faster and you are still holding back on us."

"All valid points but what the two of you are lacking at the moment is cohesion," said Lancer. "I asked the two of you what your roles were and you ignored the question, so I'll ask it again. You need to have a clear idea who plays what role when attacking, or even if you're going to switch it up midway through the fight. When the two of you fight together you need to be confident in each other's abilities and that they will have your back. The two of you have come here to train and I will train you until you die."

"Kind of a moot point there since we can't leave until you kill us anyway," said Weiss to which Lancer merely shrugged before he readied himself, the two members of team RWBY did the same.

"The longer you stay alive, the longer you learn," said Lancer with a cheeky smile before he charged forward, their confrontation beginning once more. Quick utilization of her dust caused several shards of ice to shoot forward, Weiss using this to buy the two of them a couple of extra seconds as Ruby's weapon morphed into its firearm mode. Her shot rang out as clear as day and the recoil put painful pressure on her cut leg but she ignored it as she watched the bullet fly forward.

And promptly get cut in half, the cursed weapon cleaving straight through the middle of the projectile and causing each half of the bullet to crash into the wall of the church. "There we go, that's a good start," declared Lancer. "Let's see what other tricks you've got up your sleeve."

…

Ruby slowly opened her eyes, the white roof of the medical bay gracing her view. Pushing herself into a sitting position, her fingers ran over the mental wounds she had received in her battle with Lancer finally lifting her fingers to her chest where the tip of his weapon had pierced her heart. She was thankful for the blue clad warrior for ending it the way that he had instead of being toyed around with like Ilya had.

She had to admit that the fights she had experienced in that room had been so vastly different in style and skill she couldn't help but wonder what other fighters she could potentially encounter. Unlike the previous battle, she had actually felt herself grow stronger, Lancer seemingly wanting to help them bring out their potential as fighters.

Perhaps what he had wanted was for someone strong to fight, someone he wouldn't have to hold back on. If she went in enough times she guessed that she'd eventually stumble across the spearman again, but that would require dying lots of times. No. One day she would win!

"There's that fire," said Weiss, shattering Ruby's thoughts as she scrambled about in a random fashion. "I guess it worked and now we can get back to normal."

There was a comfortable silence between the two of them before Ruby spoke up. "Weiss…am I a good leader?"

"No."

The reply was instant and it felt once more like Ruby was being speared through the heart before Weiss continued. "However, that doesn't mean that you don't have the capabilities to become a great leader. These things take time, leadership isn't suddenly created overnight. Sometimes it might not come until the situation calls for it."

Ruby thought back to the fight with Berserker and how Jaune of all people had been the first to react when they had all been startled by the size of their opponent. He had shown glimpses of leadership then, if he could do it then so could she. "C'mon, we've got homework to do," said Weiss, beckoning Ruby to follow her. She did as instructed, tossing the bedsheets to the side as she closed the distance between herself and her partner.

Perhaps having been forced to die for the second time had some good benefits after all.

It was then that a thought crept over her.

"Hey Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"Where's the key?"

…

"You really think it was a good idea to take it without asking first?" said Blake as she crossed her arms, doing her best to scowl at her partner in crime.

"C'mon, it'll be fun," said Yang as she thrust the key into the keyhole and twisted, the lock clicking open before the door swung wide to reveal the all too familiar glow of white.

"I don't see anything fun about this," said Blake as she begrudgingly followed her partner through the opening and the world reshaped around them.

…

"It would seem some students have stumbled into our lair. It's been a while since we've stepped foot into this plain. Hopefully they'll provide the mana we need."

"I take it you need them alive."

"Indeed."

"Very well, I will return shortly."

"Enjoy your fight, Master."

…

 **Hope you enjoyed. Guess it was a little too easy to guess Lancer that time round. Wonder if this one will be any more difficult, probably not but still. See you next time.**


	4. Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

**Disclaimer: I do now own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **…**

Blake's eyes darted around as their location revealed itself. A near full moon, one that wasn't shattered, illuminated the night sky as stars glistened against the darkness. Walls of trees surrounded the shrine in front of them and a stone path lead down the hillside towards what looked like a town in the background. It was at that moment she pondered just what kind of limitations this room could actually create. Were she and Yang to abandon the fight that would likely come their way, could they willingly explore the world around them? Or would they reach some sort of invisible wall or perhaps no matter how far they ran they would be no closer to the destination?

It truly was a terrifying thought.

Blake hadn't really poured much thought into this world but that was indeed what she had to consider this place actually was. A realm separated from reality with only a single door the gateway to and from unparalleled worlds. How did this even exist? Also, possibly more importantly, why did this exist? Had Professor Ozpin conducted experiments on the room to ensure that there were no lasting effects to students other than the sensation of death?

Blake couldn't help but cringe at that, having tried her hardest to use her semblance to avoid death. It showed however that her illusions were merely that, illusions. Berserker, as far as she could tell, had no knowledge to speak off and merely knew how to fight. Perhaps his name had even been not so much a name but rather a title, his semblance having ridden him of all thoughts other than how to crush his opponent into dust. Again, these were more questions that she had no real answer to but were their next opponent to have another single word as a name then she could start connecting some dots.

Speaking of their opponent.

"Where are they?" said Yang with a scowl, her eyes dancing from side to side as if expecting to be struck down from a stray bullet from the forest. Blake was finding it difficult to tell whether Yang was anxious for the battle to come or was afraid she was going to die without having a chance to fight back.

Thankfully, Yang didn't have to wait long to find out just where the person she was going to knock into the next galaxy was coming from. The door to the temple slid open and both members of Team RWBY braced themselves for whatever would come their way. While Blake may have felt relieved at the sight in front of them Yang couldn't help but feel a bit gypped.

The man walking towards them wore a dark grey suit with a white undershirt and a black tie. As he slowly closed the distance to them he took off his glasses, tucking them into his suit pocket. After having tackled the behemoth known as Berserker, Yang well and truly felt that this was more than a simple step down. "Are you really the one who's going to fight us old man," she taunted.

"Correct," he said as he got into boxing stance, his fists held at chest height as he glared at the two people in front of him.

Blake prepared to spring forward but was stopped as Yang held out a hand in front of her. "What are you doing?" she growled at her partner through gritted teeth.

"Please, this guy has no big ass weapon and no monstrous strength, my fists will be enough," said Yang with a cocky smile as she stepped forward. "Plus, I've got to trust that you've got my back. Just like how Berserker had Ilya, there's no telling if this guy's got someone helping him."

Blake widened her eyes in understanding, immediately turning her head towards the temple gate and having expected someone to be approaching them from behind. It wasn't far, thirty metres tops and if Berserker's speed was anything to go by it would take less than a couple of seconds for them to be struck from behind. It made sense, send out the weaker man as a decoy to distract them before the real attack came from behind.

Thus Blake turned her back on the fight that was about to commence. She had seen how Blake fought with her fists and if this person believed that they could outbox her then they were severely mistaken. Yang entrusted her to keep her back safe and she too trusted Yang to protect her. When they died tonight, she couldn't help but smile at the fact that she now had confidence in her partner.

Seconds ticked by and Blake could hear the sound of fists meeting flesh, the dull sounds almost being picked up by her sensitive ears. A growl of frustration. The shuffling of feet. A scream of pain.

Blake kept her eyes straight ahead.

An explosion. The cracking of stone. A primal roar.

Blake continued looking straight ahead.

The cracking of bone. The dripping of blood. Choking.

Blake had to look.

Her shuddering almost caused her to lose grip of Gambol Shroud as she looked at the sight in front of her. In the space of less than a minute, the courtyard had been torn to pieces, craters existed where once flat land had been. In the middle of it all was Yang, held by her throat two feet off the ground. Silent breaths escaped her lips as she desperately tried to get air to her lungs only for the pressure around her throat to tighten.

Blake reacted.

Bursting forward with every piece of speed she had at her disposal, Blake closed the gap between them as quickly as she could, leaping to the side in order to strike without hitting Yang. He threw Yang at her and he watched with a twinge of shock as the blonde haired brawler passed straight through her.

Only through honed training did he raise his arm to block, Gambol Shroud having been swung with all its might to connect with his head. He lashed out where Blake was only for his arm to pass through nothing once again and he blocked his head once more only for the strike to connect with his chest, knocking him off balance.

Blake was swift to follow up as dust kicked up from her feet; she was intent on piercing straight through him as her illusion kept his attention in front of her. Her eyes widened in shock as he lifted his knee and dropped his elbow simultaneously, catching the bulk of her blade only inches away from carving at his flesh. How had he done that, had her pattern been so predictable?

Her questions were rewarded with three straight jabs, the first one she managed to avoid by the skin of her teeth before the next two crashed into her face. Before she could back away, she felt his fingers wrap around her throat and lift her off the ground. Unlike Yang who had been suspended for some time, Blake had no such luxury as she was slammed into ground, her body breaking through the stone she had been standing on. Her body was then hurled outwards and bounced off the floor several times before coming to a stop. Her sight was blurred, a cut having opened above her eye seeped blood over her face. She struggled to lift her head off the ground, her body ached with every move and she hadn't even been struck that many times. Her aura should have protected her.

Looking at the man who hadn't even moved from his spot, she saw as a purple glow was emitted from his fists for a split second before vanishing. Was that his semblance, to negate the effects of aura? To pierce through their defence without any proof that it was even there in the first place? Slowly he stepped forward before she heard a scream of anger erupt from behind her. Struggling to look over her shoulder, she saw Yang back on her feet with one arm limp by her side, her eyes a fiery red as she readied herself to resume battle.

Seeing her partner back on her feet, Blake pushed herself into a kneeling position and gripped hold of Gambol Shroud's handle. If they were going to die, they may as well go down swinging.

…

Ruby awoke the next morning as bright as she could, the rest after the previous fight alongside her bestest buddy having totally been worth it. When she and her roomie had gotten back to their room it was to discover that Blake and Yang were nowhere to be found but Ruby having had belief in her sister knew that they'd be back soon.

Now that it was the morning after and only she and Weiss occupied their beds she couldn't help but get worried. There was a soft knock on the door and Ruby quickly sprung off of her mattress, ignoring the fact that the noise from her landing abruptly woke Weiss up. Opening it, she was surprised to find Jaune there decked out in his full battle attire. "Hey Jaune, what's up?" she asked.

"Why are you still in your pyjamas?" Jaune asked in return.

"Because it's nearly breakfast time, duh."

"It's quarter past one."

"Really? Guess we needed more rest than we thought," said Ruby sheepishly as she rubbed at the back of her neck.

"What's going on?" asked Weiss as she sat up, doing her best to avoid hitting her head on the bunk above her.

"We slept through lunch!" said Ruby in shock.

"Well, I do feel a bit peckish," said Weiss.

"Stop thinking with your stomachs for just a few seconds please," said Jaune who was still standing in the doorway. "Weiss, where's the key?"

"When we woke up in the hospital wing, it was missing," said Weiss honestly. "One of the professors probably took it back knowing that we weren't ready."

"And you don't think it's suspicious that Blake and Yang haven't been seen since yesterday?" Jaune asked of the two girls who were quickly connecting the dots.

"Well they should be in the infirmary then," declared Ruby.

"Nora's already checked, they're not there," stated Jaune. "How long did you two guys fight for?"

"An hour, maybe more," said Ruby who hadn't actually been paying attention to the time while combating Lancer.

"You guys were confirmed to be patients in the hospital wing three hours after you took the key," said Jaune as his eyes locked on Weiss. "If my timing is correct then I assume you were in there for nearly two and a half hours, the fighting is probably why the two of you were so exhausted."

"Makes sense," said Ruby. "But what does this have to do with Blake and Yang?"

"They've been missing for nearly an entire day," stated Jaune causing both Ruby and Weiss' eyes to go wide.

"But when they die they'll be evacuated from that room, right?" asked Ruby.

"It was Nora who figured that one out," said Jaune as he took a deep breath. "She said that if she were a beast who only got to exist for so long as there was someone to fight, then why kill them?"

Ruby and Weiss shared a quick look both understanding what Jaune was saying. "We're ready when you are," he declared. The sound of the door closing was the signal as Ruby and Weiss sprang into action.

…

Yang struggled to open her eyes as she awoke on the stone tablet she was chained to. Her hair was a mess and covered most of her clothing. Her body was beaten and broken and she was in more pain than she could ever imagine. Yet she had not been permitted to die. She knew that when they died they would return to Beacon.

She had to die.

The tightening of her chains caused her to growl out in pain as a woman stepped forward, all the while looking down on her. She extended her hand and something flashed on Yang's stomach, a red symbol carving itself into her skin.

She screamed.

She had never wished for death before.

She needed it now.

She demanded it now.

She wanted to die.

But she knew, these people would not permit her to die.

She would not be allowed to die.

She would only be allowed to suffer.

She screamed.

...

 **Shorter chapter I know but it feels like the right place to end it. Hope you enjoyed**


	5. Rewriting the Rules

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **…**

Blake cringed at the sound of Yang screaming, her voice piercing against her ears with all the subtlety of an Ursa. She wanted to help so badly but there was nothing she could do as she dangled from the ceiling, metal cuffs keeping her wrists locked together as sturdy chains suspended her from the ground. Her left eye had swollen shut completely and she was fairly certain that she was missing at least two teeth.

For how many hours had Yang screamed in agony? How long had they suffered at the hands of the cloak covered monster that seemed to delight in torturing them? Would their friends come to save them?

"It seems you are troubled."

Blake felt her one good eye open slightly to spy the man who had beaten her staring at her, his face as stoic as it had been during the battle. Between her and Yang they had managed to put up something reminiscent of a fight with their battered bodies but it almost felt as if he had been toying with them, almost holding back his strength so that they would submit on their own accord.

How badly she wished to spit at him, or show something that proved she still was willing to fight. She couldn't. She had been broken both physically and mentally. Every time she had gotten up she had just been knocked straight down. Because of that, her partner was writhing in agony and there was nothing she could do.

"If you are worried about suffering the same fate as her, rest assured that no such pain will come to you," he said as he adjusted his glasses slightly. "I was able to tell that her body was more likely to survive this process than you."

"P-Process?" said Blake, her voice barely audible over the sound of Yang screaming.

"Indeed," he said, the background noise eroding into nothing in the background. Looking at the other two occupants of the room showed both he and Blake that whatever the mystery woman had been preparing, it was almost complete. It was practically symbolized by the fact the woman materialized a purple dagger from nowhere. The design of it was unlike anything that Blake had ever seen or would likely see again. Combat wise she doubted that unless it was in the hands of the most skilled assassin on the planet would it have any real use as a functioning weapon.

As a ritualistic dagger however.

Blake could only watch as the dagger was plunged into Yang's chest and as her friend resumed screaming once more she wondered why now, why make them suffer so much if only now were you going to stick a dagger into Yang's heart? "You must know, that we, along with this dimension, were created to help prepare students for situations in which they had little chance of success, to help push them past their limits," he said as he turned to face Blake once more. "We were formed and given shape through memories and given very specific rules that we must abide by. One such rule is that anything that happens within this dimension has no effect on the dimension you come from. There is one thing however that our creators forgot."

"Sometimes, rules are can be broken."

…

"Hold up," commanded Ren as the two teams paused only metres away from the entrance to where their two friends were being held captive.

"What's the matter?" asked Jaune wondering why his teammate had stopped them so close to where their goal was.

"We have yet to formulate a proper plan," stated Ren. "This isn't a simple go in and get out kind of hostage situation. The rules regarding this room are very clear. We don't get out until we die. If the people that Yang and Blake are facing haven't killed them now then chances are that they may not kill us either."

"What are you saying?" asked Ruby.

"I think, what Ren is getting at, is that we may…be forced to…" started Pyrrha before finding herself unable to complete her sentence.

"Indeed, we're going to have to go in there and kill our friends," declared Ren as stoic as ever. "Not only that, but the more of us that go in, the more of our friends we will have to kill. Not one of us can be left behind. If these opponents are like what we think they are, the last person there will have to kill themselves as well."

There was a sullen silence between the group before Weiss started marching forward. "All of you may only be realizing this now, but I knew that we'd have to die to get out," she said turning to face her companions. "I know it's an uncomfortable feeling and it is more than possible that when the time comes we may not pull the trigger or swing the blade, especially when it is aimed at our friends. Therefore, I ask all of you, trust in me, I will bring Yang and Blake back myself."

"Weiss, what are you thinking?" said Ruby as she leaned forward as if to latch onto Weiss but stopped as Weiss held out a hand.

"In the heat of the moment, we may not be able to put our plan into fruition," said Weiss as she unequipped her rapier and handed it to her team leader. "I have a plan and the only way it can work is if nobody else is there."

Jaune watched with sharpened eyes as Weiss shuddered and he could hear the rattle of glass clinking away at one another. "Everyone get back," he commanded of his teammates.

"Jaune, what are you…" Nora started but was silenced as Jaune glared at her and she couldn't help but go quiet. Even though she hadn't known their team leader for long this was the first look that he had ever given her which demanded that he do as he said. Dropping her head slightly, Nora obeyed and backed away ever so slowly, Ren following by her side.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pyrrha asked. "Surely we can think of another way."

"Ren was right, the more people that go in, the harder it will be for all of us to get out," declared Jaune. "Weiss knows what she's doing."

"Thank you," said Weiss sincerely, grateful that the leader of Team JNPR was understanding of the situation. "It would probably be best if everyone waits here so that we can get Blake and Yang to the infirmary as quickly as possible."

"Understood," stated Jaune as he started walking towards the safe distance that Ren and Nora had made. Pyrrha stayed with Weiss and Ruby for a few seconds longer before turning to go be with her teammates.

"You to Ruby."

"No."

"What was that?" Weiss asked of her team leader.

"No."

"Ruby, this is the easiest way."

"No."

"Ruby, stop being so stubborn."

"You're not going alone."

"Excuse me?"

Ruby lifted her head so that she could look at Weiss, tears having formed in her eyes. "Weiss, I know this is tough and I want you to know that you don't have to do this alone. We're partners, and partners look out for each other even in the worst possible situations. Like with Lancer, I'm more than happy to die with you again."

Weiss found herself unable to find words for a few seconds as Ruby wiped away at the unfallen tears with her sleeve. "We really need to get you a handkerchief," she finally said, causing Ruby's face to contort slightly. "Fine then, if we're going in as a team I guess it's only fitting we all go out as a team"

Ruby nodded in satisfaction before looking towards the other end of the corridor where Team JNPR were positioned. "I guess if we're not back out shortly it might be wise to get Professor Ozpin," she shouted, ensuring that the other team leader could hear her. From what she could see, Jaune nodded in understanding before Weiss and Ruby turned towards the familiar door and twisted the handle.

…

Appearing in a courtyard outside of a temple, it didn't take long for Ruby and Weiss to hear where their missing team members were located, Yang's scream piercing through the night. "Come on," commanded Ruby as she started running towards their target, Weiss following closely behind whilst being careful not to cause any kind of reaction too early. Activating her semblance, Ruby increased in speed tenfold and burst straight through the double doors leading into the temple, slowing down to a stop and pulling out her scythe expecting an enemy to come from anywhere.

A small sigh of relief escaped her lips as she was not immediately attacked but she kept her weapon primed and ready, Lancer's words ringing in her head that the moment she let her guard down would likely be the moment she was struck. The spear wielding warrior had given her and Weiss some incredible advice and she knew that much of it would be required in the future.

Yang's pain filled yell once again brought Ruby back to reality as she realized that the sound was coming from beneath her. While she could have spent time trying to find the stairwell, she figured there was a much quicker way as she rose her scythe high in the air and swung with all her might at the floor beneath her.

…

"It is done Caster," stated the man as he strode up to be side by side to his partner.

"Yes Master, though there were some complications," said the aptly named Caster as the dagger she had been holding vanished into nothing.

"Were you unable to procure enough mana?" asked the man, Caster's silence answering his question for him. "Very well, what's done is done. Hopefully the results will not be much different from what you hypothesized."

"From what I understand, unlike the mana of our world, Aura…" started Caster before she cut herself off, turning her gaze upwards to see the point of a blade piercing through the floor. A noble attempt for someone to reach them but far too clumsy an effort and it would take a substantial amount of time. Deciding to put a stop to it before it began, Caster lifter her arm up and several beams of purple light shot forth and exploded into the ceiling underneath the blade, causing a section of the basement ceiling to collapse along with an understandingly terrified young girl. Her squeal of fear was silenced as she crashed to the ground in an awkward heap but Caster kept her gaze skyward as a second intruder leapt down, small magic circles slowing her down and preventing her from injuring herself.

While those were not similar to her own brand of magic, Caster couldn't help but feel she had spent precious mana on the wrong test subject. However, it seemed as if she wouldn't get the chance to do anything as the white haired girl tore off her sleeves tore open her dress, to reveal dozens of small cylindrical containers, each with a substantial amount of red powder in them. Tearing one of them off her body, Caster and her Master did nothing as she threw the container into the ground, shattering it and creating an explosion which engulfed the young woman and her partner, setting off a chain reaction with every other tube on her body.

It would have been simple to create a shield and prevent them from harm, something she would have done without a second thought were she the original Caster. The original she was not however and just before the explosion consumed her she took a moment to look at her Master, a small smile adorning her face knowing that the next time she opened her eyes she would not see him again.

…

"How are they?" asked Pyrrha as Weiss and Ruby stepped out of the infirmary.

"The nurse says that they won't wake up for a while," said Ruby softly as she closed the door behind her.

"She wouldn't give us an exact time but said that they needed their rest and we shouldn't expect until at least late tomorrow," declared Weiss.

"At least they're fine," stated Jaune as he held out his hand to Weiss. The Schnee grumbled under her breath before passing the key she had procured back to Jaune. "I think it's safe to say that we need to create some guidelines before going back in there."

"Wise decision," commented Ren.

"For now though, let's just work on homework or something and come back to this when Blake and Yang are with us," stated Jaune. "After their experience, they probably never want to step foot in there again."

Nobody could disagree with what Jaune said and without another word the six students started marching back towards their dorms. Ruby took a final glance over her shoulder to the room where her sister lay sleeping and knew that if she could pull through the experience with Berserker alright, then there was no chance that this would keep Yang down for long.

…

Night crept over Vale and the shattered moon illuminated the night sky. The drapes of the infirmary glided back and forth gently with a small breeze leaking in through the barely open window. The nurse on duty looked at the sleeping forms of her two patients before turning towards the door with the intent to head to the cafeteria. The night shift was a long and tedious one and she would need at least a couple of cups of coffee to ensure she was still awake by the time her replacement arrived at the crack of dawn.

As the door closed behind her. A pair of eyes shot open. The blonde haired brawler glanced around the room as if seeing things for the first time. Pushing the sheets off of her body, she swung her legs off of the bed and gingerly placed her feet on the ground. Her mind was telling her that she was too exhausted to move but she knew that that was merely an afterthought of having spent so much time within the confines of that separate reality.

Taking a few slow steps, she made her way over to the window and pushed the drape aside so that she could look at the night sky. In doing so, she saw the reflection of Yang staring back at her. Not with her lilac eyes, nor with the fiery red eyes she obtained when anger consumed her. No, she stared at the image of herself with pale blue eyes.

The eyes of Medea, the princess of Colchis.

The eyes of Caster.

…

 **Hope you enjoyed.**


	6. Saying Hello

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or RWBY**

 **…**

Ruby half watched the battle going on before her, whilst supporting Jaune she couldn't give it her all even as he fought the more physically intimidating Cardin Winchester. Of course Cardin was nothing compared to Berserker in terms of strength or physique but it mattered little, Jaune was still the underdog as he scrambled his way around the arena trying his best to avoid his aura dropping into the red.

The reason why Ruby wasn't completely involved in the battle before them was that her eyes were focused on the back of an all too familiar head of yellow hair sitting in front of her. Yang and Blake had been excused from the infirmary two days prior. She had been oddly quiet, speaking only when spoken to and not making any comment from what had happened. Ruby couldn't find it in herself to blame her, she had seen her sister tied to a stone table and a witch (she had no idea what else to call the cowl wearing woman) standing over her. Even though she had only been there for a handful of seconds before Weiss blew them all up she couldn't help but wonder what kind of torment Yang had been through. She wouldn't force Yang to talk though, if she wished to speak she would do so at her own pace.

What she wouldn't give for a terrible pun though.

Blake on the other hand had come out…pretty much the same. The black haired fighter was pretty much as quiet as ever and only contributed to conversations to prevent destruction from happening. Prime example being the previous night when Ruby thought it would be a brilliant use of Weiss' limited supply of dust to create a fire in their room so they could bond over campfire stories. Despite being voted down, she still thought that it was an awesome idea.

Allowing a sigh to escape her lips, she decided to focus instead on the fight at hand, watching as Jaune ducked beneath an almost sure-fire knock to the head. Instead of using his sword as a follow up strike, he lashed out with his shield, knocking Cardin off balance. Ruby had to blink twice at the different approach, something she had not expected of her fellow Team Captain. His follow up blow was slightly lacking as he aimed low, swinging out at Cardin's knee. With the boy having been unbalanced however it was more effective than Ruby had given original credit for as she watched Cardin's aura meter drop substantially, more than five percent in a single swipe. His follow up strike would have been more impressive if his shield hadn't been so loose in his grip and he was unable to avoid the blow which threatened to concave his ribs.

"Enough," commanded Professor Goodwitch. "Mister Arc's aura has dropped below the designated point. While I will commend you on some improvement you have a long way to go before I can deem you worthy of fighting in the field."

Cardin chuckled lightly at Jaune's expense before Glynda's eyes focused on him. "As for you Mister Winchester, you went into the bout with so much bravado that you didn't even contemplate that damage you could have obtained throughout. You continuously went for a finishing blow with little regard for your own safety and it cost you more aura than necessary. You would do well to approach future battles with a clearer mind. Now, both of you, return to your seats."

Jaune and Cardin did as commanded, Cardin grumbling under his breath as he returned to where his teammates were located. Jaune received a comforting pat on the back from Pyrrha as well as one that was a little more enthusiastic from Nora and he was more than a little glad his aura was no longer visible because he believed it had just dropped several more points.

"That is all for classes today," declared Professor Goodwitch from the ground floor that served as a makeshift arena. "Please continue to train vigilantly in your own time in order to put on a good show for your next class."

"'Good show,'" scoffed Weiss at her teacher's choice of words. "What does she think we are, show dogs?"

"I'm sure that's not what she meant," said Blake as the members of Team RWBY worked on packing away their belongings. Having heard the black haired girl speak however, Ruby wanted to try and bring her out of her shell if only a little bit more.

"Hey Blake, did you finish reading that book?" she asked. "The one about the two souls in the one body."

"I finished it last night," she said in return.

"So, did the two souls fight for supremacy over the body, or did they find a peaceful manner, or perhaps…"

"If you'd like to know how it ends, I'd be more than happy to lend you the book so you can read it yourself," offered Blake.

"Can't you just tell me?" asked Ruby putting a great deal of emphasis on a whining tone.

"Sorry, I'm not one for spoilers," declared Blake as she got to her feet, Weiss and Ruby following suit. Yang however remained seated.

"Will you be joining us for lunch Yang?" asked Weiss.

"Yea, just give me a minute," said Yang. "I've just gotta ask Goodwitch some questions."

"Alright then, we'll see you in the cafeteria," declared Ruby as she led the rest of the team away. Hopefully a conversation with the professor was the start of Yang's recovery.

The blonde haired teenager waited until the rest of the class had evacuated before she stood up. Her legs struggled to support her momentarily and she leaned against her desk for support. Making her way down the nearby stairs with small steps, her eyes locked onto her target. Hopefully, Professor Goodwitch would be able to provide her with the answers she was after.

"Miss Xiao Long," said Glynda as her eyes focused on the brawler walking towards her. "If this is about the fact that you didn't get to participate in the battles today please note this was merely due to you having been excused from the infirmary within the last forty eight hours. I didn't want to force you to exhaust yourself so soon but please note that you will be fighting next time. Your sister perhaps would deal for a suitable opponent, if you've gathered the strength to catch her by then."

Yang felt her teeth sink lightly into her lower lip at the blatant attempt to get a reaction out of her. It was true, Ruby's speed made her almost impossible to get a hold of, at least until she got in close for her strike. This was not the time or place to be contemplating how to defeat her sister in battle however and Yang took in a deep breath before speaking. "Professor, I was hoping perhaps that you would be able to tell me a little more about Aura," she said, staring directly at the teacher.

"Aura is something that you should have learned of well before coming to Beacon Miss Xiao Long," said Glynda, clearly not amused by Yang's statement.

"I know that it works as a defence, it protects us from harm yadda yadda yadda," said Yang, putting a fist on her hip as if to emphasize that this wasn't what she wanted to hear. "What I want to know is if it has other uses? Can I utilize my aura in other ways other than waiting to be punched in the face?"

Glynda's eyes sharpened as she stared at the student in front of her. She took a few seconds more than necessary before answering which didn't go unnoticed by Yang. "Over the years, there have been many experiments sometimes conducted in, unsavoury circumstances," she said, turning her gaze to the side momentarily as if to shake such thoughts from her mind. "They like you were curious about what one was capable of doing with aura after hearing rumours that there lived a master centuries ago who utilized his aura in such a way that a single punch could be felt hundreds of feet away. That he could use his aura as a form of telekinesis to attack Grimm from afar with no more than a look and that he could even levitate and manipulate his aura in such a way that gravity had no effect on him. "

"They were nothing more than rumours."

"A good number of people died trying to extract their aura and utilize it for something else. They even heard that I could utilize telekinesis and as a professor at Beacon it was my responsibility to teach them how I did it. I told them that it had nothing to do with my aura and never spoke with them again. It didn't stop them from trying, nor from the body count rising until nobody was left. Their research was destroyed and their bodies buried. All for the sake of chasing something they could never catch."

"And they were using all of the latest technology at their disposal?" Yang asked.

"Yes."

"Foolish."

"What did you say!" Glynda practically screamed, unable to control herself.

"Aura is generated from within the body, manifesting and growing until we reach a limit, a limit that should not exist in the first place. They attempted to utilize the very manifestation of their soul using machines. Mediating under the light of the moon would have had a greater chance of success then tampering with your very being using emotionless steel. They got what they deserved."

Glynda was left speechless as Yang turned her back on her and started making her way towards the stairs. She felt herself swallow a lump that had formed in her throat at how flippantly Yang had discarded any regard for the humans who had given up their lives. The sound of the door to the auditorium closing snapped her out of her stupor before she gathered her belongings, hoping that this personality trait was merely a side effect from having spent such a great deal of time fighting an enemy that had clearly outclassed her.

Having only ever stepped in there once herself, at Ozpin's behest no less, had she ever come face to face with someone whom she wasn't capable of fighting back against. The nightmares regarding that golden haired man who had defeated her without moving from his original spot had lasted far longer than she had would have liked. Her defeat had been thankfully swift however but it had affected her for a great deal of time. How one would reach after nearly spending an entire day in there, perhaps it was more than understandable regarding Miss Xiao Long's outlook.

At least she hoped that was the case.

…

Yang found herself staring out of a nearby window, the sun bathing the world in light from its highest point in the sky. Down in the courtyard below a good number of students had chosen to have a picnic and utilize the day to its fullest as opposed to eating whilst being cramped in the cafeteria.

Yang meanwhile was wondering why she had acted the way she had. The question she had had was a genuine one, after having gotten the stuffing kicked out of her she wanted to know if there were any alternate routes to learning how to improve her game other than hitting a boxing bag hundreds of times over and over again. Of course she could go back into that room and hopefully find herself facing an opponent she would have a greater chance of survival against but after her last battle that wasn't even a viable option.

Regardless, it had been quite out of character for her to say that those scientists died effectively for nothing and the words almost felt foreign coming out of her mouth. She knew that when she got angry that her aggression more often than not took hold of her until she calmed down. The idea that people were experimenting on one another hadn't made her angry so much but rather she was questioning why people believed that such stupid contraptions could…

Yang paused in her train of thought, almost as if her mind had been creeping towards that place once again. Perhaps it was stupidity on her part, or from the fact that Ruby had made mention of that book Blake had been reading but she closed her eyes and thought a single word.

 _'Hello?_ '

Seconds ticked by before Yang released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding before slapping her face several times as if to get such ridiculous thoughts out of her brain. That book was a piece of fiction, a story. The mere idea that two souls could occupy the same body was completely ridiculous.

 _'Hello my child, we have much to discuss.'_

Or not.

…

 **Hope you enjoyed.**


	7. Developments

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **…**

Jaune ignored the conversation going on around him as his eyes focused on one Cardin Winchester, the brute of a man who had cleanly beaten him in the previous sparring bout. Both Pyrrha and Ruby had been telling him that Cardin's bullying had been going on for too long and that he should tell one of the teacher's so that they could put a stop to it. Frankly though, that didn't seem appropriate.

As much as going to one of the professor's was the sensible option to stop the bullying, Jaune knew that he was making improvements slowly but surely. Strangely enough, it all had to do with the battle against Berserker. Every night when he closed his eyes he found himself in that graveyard once more and he kept wondering how he would go about lasting just a second longer, how to keep the fight going that extra moment. He knew that in the scenario he would always lose, everything he did would only keep him the fight for that instant longer but one of those situations he had used today. While his shield blow likely would have only confused Berserker if only for a split second, against a much more human opponent in Cardin it had worked wonders. Sure it had only permitted the fight to go for an extra few seconds but it had permitted him to get a clean strike in but when he had had the chance he hadn't particularly followed up all that well.

In his mental battles with Berserker he had never gotten a swing in. Perhaps he needed to start dreaming about going on the offence.

His daydreaming was thrown aside however as he heard a pained cry and his eyes sharpened as he saw Cardin pulling on another students ear. Her giant rabbit ear. Jaune found himself almost growling at the scene in front of him, sickened by the fact that Cardin was bullying a fellow student just because she was a Faunus. It seemed however that somebody else wasn't keen on allowing this to go on.

"Stop!" ordered Yang from the cafeteria entrance, her voice carrying over the entirety of the room and silencing all manner of conversations. It was clear who her target was and he allowed himself to scoff as he kept his grip on the Faunus' ear.

"Why should I?" he stated, the other members of his team standing behind him.

"Because…" There was a pause, far larger than what should have been as Yang took a deep inhale. Jaune took this chance to look at Ruby to see whether or not she wished to intervene in any way but she shook her head quickly from side to side. Jaune figured that Ruby wished to use this as a way to get Yang out of her current funk and by them charging to her side it would force herself as unable to fight on her own. Sure he was probably overthinking the whole thing but at least some form of idea was better than none.

"Because, if you fail to comply I will have you on your knees begging for mercy," declared Yang. Once more Jaune found himself looking at both his teammates and the members of Team RWBY. While the threat very well seemed like something Yang would make, in his brief experience with the woman, the way she had said it wasn't more of a warning as it was a foreshadowing. She already knew what they were going to do and had supposedly planned accordingly.

Cardin, despite what some people may think of him, wasn't a foolish man. Sure he had gotten a kick out of picking on the Faunus but even he realized that he was in the middle of hostile territory. The moment he went to attack the blonde haired bimbo he would regret the decision. While a little playful showing of who was top dog in the school was one thing, picking a fight with the rest of the student body present would likely lead to disaster. Yet at the same time he couldn't show weakness! One student had called him out where they were at a strategical advantage but there was no way he could simply back down, his pride would not allow him.

"What say we settle this like professional huntsman then," he declared. "What say we meet in the courtyard in an hour and we settle this, just you and me and if I win, not only do you never butt into my business again but you will forever refer to me as Master Cardin."

Jaune wasn't sure why it was that Yang reacted so strongly to the word 'master' but the smirk on her face afterwards sent shivers down his spine. "You do not have the strength to be referred to as my master. My conditions in exchange are simple. When I am victorious, you will cease all manner of bullying amongst the student body."

"Heh, is that all you want?"

"Just know, that for every time that your break this oath I will break a dozen bones in your body," declared Yang before she spun on her heel to show her back towards her opponent. "I will see you in the courtyard within the hour."

Everybody watched as Yang marched out of the cafeteria, her steps almost leaving residual power in their wake. Ruby meanwhile had her fists clenched in success thinking this was very much the Yang she knew and loved back from the taste of defeat. "So…that just happened," said Jaune breaking the silence around them.

"Yang is back baby!" declared Nora slamming her fist onto the table.

"Let's get her some food and head down to the courtyard," stated Ruby as she got up from her seat and went to go get her sister some lunch. Blake and Weiss shared a look between one another, both feeling like something was amiss but were unsure about just what it was. Hopefully the upcoming confrontation would provide them with some much needed answers.

…

Yang leaned against a tree, her back pressing against the bark with her eyes closed. Anybody watching would think that she was close to falling asleep where she stood but her mind was racing at a pace far greater than anyone could imagine.

 _'Alright, what the hell was that?'_

 _'My apologize for taking over beforehand, but seeing someone take advantage of a situation where a person has no control over has always been a sore point of mine.'_

 _'Care to share so that I can prepare myself for the next time you TAKE OVER MY BODY!'_

 _'Oh, did I do something inappropriate?'_

 _'You freaking made me say those things…'_

 _'Were they not things you were already going to say?'_

 _'That is not the point!'_

 _'I guess not hehehe.'_

 _'Stop laughing dammit!'_

 _'If it puts your mind at ease, please know that with the little residual mana that I am able to absorb from this world I can only maintain wrestle control of your body for a few minutes at a time.'_

 _'Mana? What the hell?'_

 _'Ah yes, you likely have never heard of the source of power that I am able to use.'_

 _'Of course I've heard of mana!'_

 _'What?'_

 _'Mana is used to cast magic, basically the principle for every RPG Ruby and I played as kids.'_

 _'RPG?'_

 _'Doesn't matter, what does matter though is that you're a witch.'_

Yang felt it before she realized what was happening, a surge of power washing through her body before the tree she had been leaning against was struck with raw energy; the leaves shook, wood splintered and several branches fell to the ground around her.

 _'I would recommend that you do not use that word to describe me, again. After all, if I can use my mana to effect the tree, imagine what could happen if I focused it on one of your organs instead.'_

 _'You wouldn't!'_

 _'Let's hope that we never have to find out just how far my patience goes.'_

 _'Fine, so that was your mana in use then was it?'_

 _'Correct.'_

 _'And you did that without taking over my body?'_

 _'Correct.'_

 _'So what else are you doing besides waiting for times to come out and speak every now and again?'_

 _'I had been using my mana to fortify your body, increase bone density and the like, but I can see that you clearly don't want my assistance in that regard…'_

 _'Wait, you're strengthening my body? Why?'_

 _'As much as you are loathe to admit, I am a part of you now and it wouldn't be fitting if my host was unable to defend themselves when their precious aura had run dry.'_

 _'Please, I can defend myself just fine.'_

 _'Really now? Then perhaps you will allow me to assist you in the battle to come.'_

 _'Please, what can you do to help me?'_

 _'Well, if you wish to see just how I can be of assistance, take off those shapeshifting gauntlets of yours and I will show you what real power can do.'_

Yang opened her eyes and looked down at Ember Cecilia, the ever faithful weapons which she had used for so long. Fighting without them would feel more like a spar against Ruby than an actual bout with actual consequences. Still, her opponent was only Cardin and punching him with her own fists would feel pretty satisfying.

' _Fine.'_

 _'Then we are in agreeance, I will speak with you soon.'_

Just like that the voice inside Yang's head went silent but Yang got the feeling that her thoughts were unnoticeable. If the conversation with Professor Goodwitch had been any indication, the woman, whose name had been conveniently left out of the conversation, she was still listening in albeit probably in a mode similar to her scroll's standby mode. It still was able to receive messages while conserving power, which made sense to Yang. The woman had declared that she could only take control for a few minutes per day, possibly shorter if Yang was attempting to get back in control every moment that she wasn't in power. Likewise she figured the opposite was true. If Yang were to willingly give the woman the reins to her body for a certain purpose or task without trying to wrangle control back, the woman could likely hold control for as long as her mana allowed her.

It was a scary thought.

"Hey," came a new voice, causing Yang to lift her gaze from the ground to spot a couple of students walking towards her. One wasn't recognizable but the other one was very familiar, having been the rabbit Faunus that Cardin had been tormenting earlier.

"Hey," she said in response as the two Huntresses in training stopped a handful of feet away from where she was.

"My teammate Velvet here just wanted to tell you something," said the seemingly more confrontational of the two, not bothering with niceties as if to simply get this over with as quickly as possible. Seemingly unhappy with how Velvet had yet to step forward, her partner gave her a gentle shove in the back so that she was now standing front and centre.

"Umm, well, what I wanted to say is…thank you," said Velvet with a small bow.

"Don't mention it," said Yang offhandedly, not really sure to accept the gratitude she was being shown. "I'm more surprised somebody didn't step in sooner," she added turning her glare onto Velvet's teammate.

"If I'd have been there, I wouldn't have allowed him to get away with what he did," she declared. "It was only because Velvet here was so hungry that she ran ahead of the rest of her team and got into the trouble she did. Frankly it might have been better for you to enter before we did because I can tell you for certain that I wouldn't have had the patience to issue a formal challenge and just would have knocked him one without warning."

Yang couldn't help but allow her lips to form a small smirk at the woman's declaration. "Sorry if I've stolen your thunder, you're more than welcome to watch me knock more than a small amount of sense into Cardin."

"You didn't have to go through all this for me," said Velvet bashfully.

"Please, if anything this is an excuse to try out some new tricks of mine."

…

As much as other people would say otherwise, Professor Ozpin was not so distant from the world around him as some of his peers expected. Currently up on the screen in front of him was the methodical beatdown being handed to one Cardin Winchester at the hands of Yang Xiao Long. The fist throwing fighter was seemingly taking her time with the battle, a chance to prove herself maybe, as she avoided Cardin's attacks with ease and struck out in a timely matter, her fists driving squarely into his jaw on more than one occasion.

While unsanctioned fights were frowned upon in the academy, Ozpin knew that such scuffles were sometimes unavoidable and the vast number of students creating the 'arena' of sorts would ensure that nothing got too out of hand. Taking a sip of his coffee, Ozpin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as Miss Xiao Long caught the mace that had been targeting her brow, stopping the weapon in its tracks before pulling her right fist back. Her hand barrelled forth and connected squarely with Mister Winchester's armoured chest piece with enough force to dent the structure with such force that had it been a blow to the body, bones likely would have been shattered beyond repair.

As Mister Winchester collapsed to the floor, struggling for breath, Yang stepped away, the match having ended in that moment and Professor Ozpin switched off the screen having seen enough from the security camera. Lacing his fingers beneath his chip, the headmaster of Beacon Academy contemplated the strength Miss Xiao Long had demonstrated. Glynda had spoken to him earlier about how the student had questioned the potential uses for aura. If this was indeed a reworking of aura it could very well revolutionize how students at the academy were taught. If it was something else however he would have to be very careful in how he approached the topic.

For now though, it was best to bide his time and see how things unfolded. After all, there were other matters to attend to.

…

Jaune lay awake that evening, staring at the ceiling as his teammates slept around him. He had been present for the battle that had taken place that afternoon, Yang having moped the floor with the opponent whom he had struggled against. Yang's strength had been undeniable and her skill even more so. He had never really seen the fist fighter in action before and it had been a sight to behold.

But what did that make him.

Pushing himself into a seated position, Jaune found himself chewing at his lower lip knowing full well of his situation. He wasn't meant to be here and if the staff ever decided to look at his forged documents a little closer then he would be out of Beacon before he knew what was happening. With his sometimes dismal displays in Professor Goodwitch's class it was very possible that the strict teacher would question just how Jaune had gotten himself into such a prestigious Huntsman academy.

If that happened it was all over.

He needed to improve.

He couldn't leave Beacon, not now.

Through the darkness, his eyes drifted to a certain drawer which held a very specific item he had obtained from Professor Ozpin. It was dangerous and both Team RWBY and Team JNPR had declared that nobody should enter the room for at least until the start of the following term. He didn't have the luxury of time on his side though.

He needed to train. Hopefully he could talk whomever he was facing into helping him improve. That unfortunately was on the hope that they spoke any language, Berserker's primal roar didn't give much hope to the behemoth actually understanding English.

Shifting his gaze to the scabbard residing beside his bed, he prayed that his team would forgive him for what he was about to do.

Pyrrha would awake from her slumber an hour later, a nightmare encounter with Berserker forcing her sleep to an abrupt end. It wasn't the first time she had been awoken by such a dream and likely wouldn't be the last. Rubbing at her eyes, she silently prayed that the rest of her sleep would not be disturbed. Twisting her head to find that Jaune wasn't in his bed and his sword was missing however meant that she would not willingly be trying to get to sleep anytime soon.

Pyrrha wished that he was just up on the rooftop or in a courtyard practicing the basics. She knew however that she was just lying to herself. There was only one place that he would go and as she started reaching for her armour, she merely hoped that she would find him unconscious out the front having suffered a swift defeat.

It didn't take her long to get her act together and she soon found herself sprinting down the hallway. Part of her wished that she had left a note of some description for Nora and Ren to discover on the off chance that she didn't return that evening put her tired mind hadn't contemplated that possibility. There were only five hours until sunrise so in the worst case scenario they Ren would discover they were missing by the time sunrise came around.

Nora would only be awoken once she smelled pancakes.

Her fears were realized when she reached her destination to find that it was devoid of life, meaning that Jaune was still trapped in there. Steeling her nerve, Pyrrha marched forward with every intent of rescuing Jaune from whatever hellish nightmare he was experiencing.

Little did she know of just what she was getting in to.

…

 **Hope you enjoyed.**

 **So we finally get to see Jaune step foot into the room, I really don't think anybody is going to be surprised with who he is fighting. But to have lasted for an hour? Just what's going on? It's late and I'm rambling, catch ya next time.**


	8. New Faces

**Quick note before I start the chapter, I got a review the other day questioning whether or not I had written myself into a hole. A perfectly legit statement and one I wanted to address. Please recall that at the start of this story I was questioning whether or not this would be a one shot or a multi chaptered story. Because of the support I received (of which I cannot thank you all enough) I decided to push head long into this story without really having much in the way of a plot other than find reasons for characters of the RWBY to fight against Heroic Spirits while continuing the RWBY timeline.**

 ***Mild spoilers* That changes now.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **…**

"Again."

That was the first thing that Pyrrha heard as she found herself in the newest of scenarios. She was in the courtyard of what looked like a family household, one which would more likely be found in Menagerie. Taking a quick glance behind her she was able to see a secondary building, a shed or perhaps a workshop of some description. Given with how the encounter with Berserker had gone, she couldn't help but feel as if such a building was a perfect place for an ambush.

"Again."

Pyrrha slowly moved forward, her eyes focused on the building in front of her once more as she readied Milo and Akouo. She couldn't deny the fact that she was taking things slowly, her eyes glancing from side to side and even going so far as to twist on the spot on more than one occasion, making sure that her gaze continued to allow her sight to scan the surroundings. She could almost feel power resonating in the air, Pyrrha couldn't quite put her finger on it but something about this place unnerved her.

Her timid steps finally allowed her to reach the door and she slid it open as slowly as she could, grateful that it didn't make too great of a sound when she pushed it to the side. Closing it behind her, Pyrrha crept through the hall, the moonlight seeping in through the windows as she made her way to where she hoped Jaune was located. With every step, noises grew in volume. The sound of clashing between two items was prominent but she couldn't make out just what the noise was. Regardless of what exactly the items were, it did sound like somebody was attacking. If someone was attacking, it then only made sense that someone was defending.

"Again."

Now that she was inside, Pyrrha could make out the voice more clearly now. The voice was that of a woman and she spoke in a tone that radiated power. Her command was a simple one but Pyrrha felt that were she in the presence of the person making the simple demands she would be unable to prevent herself from doing what was asked of her.

Her footsteps caused the floorboards beneath her to moan and Pyrhha found herself pausing midstep, afraid that the sound she had been making were audible to the other people present. When the sound of clashing stopped, she heard a pained cry ring out, one which was very familiar to her. "Jaune," she found herself saying before raising a hand up to cover her mouth.

It was, unfortunately, a fruitless endeavour as she started to hear footsteps slowly come towards where she was standing. Thankfully with her positioning she was primed to ambush her opponent and she found herself kneeling, he javelin primed over her shoulder and ready to be let loose.

The footsteps edged ever closer and closer, echoing through the otherwise empty hallway towards where she was positioned. Closer. Closer. Closer. NOW!

Milo shot forward at Pyrrha's command, the projectile launching as fast as she could make it at the first sign of life stepping around the corner. If this person's strength was at least half as much as Bersekrer's then all she could hope for was a surprise attack that would allow the advantage of the bout to slip in her favour.

As she saw who stepped into the path of her attack however her heart stopped for a second as the tip of Milo sunk deep into it's target. "Gaahhh!" The cry of pain shook Pyrrha to the core as the person found her javelin lodged into their shoulder, having reacted last moment to wheel as much out of the way as possible but still unable to dodge the whole attack. He stumbled over, eventually tripping over his own feet before landing on the floor, his ass acting as much of a cushion as humanly possible.

Pyrrha meanwhile found herself in a dilemma as she pondered what to do. Just like with how she had been plotting an ambush, it was just as possible that this man had been sent forth as a diversion. Sure she had Akouo by her side to defend her from harm but without a weapon to defend herself if the time was right then she would be on the defensive from the word go. Alternatively she could summon Milo back to her side, using her control over polarity to give herself full control of her weapons once more, but in doing so it would showcase just what she was capable of.

"Ow, ow, ow," muttered the boy as he ripped Milo out of his shoulder, the clang of the metal on the floor resounding as loud as a thunderclap for Pyrrha as she was bought back to reality. Grasping the situation in front of her and negating all the potential possibilities she found herself looking at an orange haired boy with brown eyes sitting on the ground in front of her with his back against the wall and blood leaking down his arm.

"Are you alright?" she asked, still hesitant to move from her spot in case there was something more sinister planned for her around the corner. To further enhance her fears, the sound of clashing started once more in the background.

"Not the worst surprise attack I've been subjected to," he said casually as he applied pressure to his wound. With his wounded arm he was pushing himself into a kneeling position before standing upright, seemingly unfazed for the post part by the fact that he had been impaled with a spear. His casual demeanour had Pyrrha on edge, it wasn't natural by any means for someone to shrug off the attack she had delivered; even those with the usage of aura would still have been reeling from the blow even if their aura had defended them from harm. Perhaps she had been right to be wary of this foe.

"Where is Jaune?" she asked of the man before her.

"Your friend is fighting Saber," they said. "They've been at it for a while now, I'm honestly surprised he's lasted as long as he has."

"…Can you take me to them?"

"Sure."

Pyrrha couldn't help but blink in surprise at how simple it was and felt more than a little sheepish for the way she had been creeping about earlier. Perhaps their experience with Berserker was not the ideal way to base the capabilities of this room. She had so far found herself in conversation with someone who hadn't meant her harm and was now being lead through their household. Hopefully Jaune wasn't being subjected to as much as she had initially thought.

…

Sweat dribbled down Jaune's brow as he struggled to return air to his lungs, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. The battle had been going on for what felt like an eternity thus far and not once had he managed to land a single blow. Every move he made, every tactic he employed was fruitless compared to the skill of the woman before her.

He allowed himself to roar out, more out of frustration than anything. Charging forward, Jaune kept his shield in front of his body, his sword arm outstretched. The polished steel slashed horizontally through the air, missing its target by the barest of margins. He could see the counterattack coming, their weapon swinging down on him in a vertical arc. Jaune lifted his shield in an attempt to block the attack but in doing so lost sight of the weapon for the smallest of moments.

That was all that was needed.

The blow that struck his gut caught him off guard and bile escaped his mouth as he dropped to his knees. Taking deep breaths once more, he began to realize that the over exaggerated movements that they had shown to force him to raise his shield had been nothing more than a diversion, one he had easily got caught up in.

The sliding of a nearby door saved him from further torment at the hands of his 'teacher' but he couldn't help but feel that the real punishment was about to begin. "Pyrrha," he said softly as he spotted his partner standing in the doorway with the other host of the household.

"Jaune," said Pyrrha as she rushed over to his side to inspect him for injuries, her concern for the boy preventing her from seeing just what she was rushing into at the moment. Seconds passed and when she found no signs of bleeding, she turned her attention towards the person who had forced her team leader to his knees.

Pyrrha found herself swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat as she looked up at the woman in front of her. Cerulean eyes stared down at her and short blonde hair was parted at the fringe. She wore a white blouse accompanied by a dark blue skirt and black stockings. The thing however that forced Pyrrha to supress a shiver threatening to creep down her spine was the authority that this woman commanded. In her hands she held a bokken, a wooden sword that Pyrrha felt could still end her life were the person in front of her were to get serious.

She silently prayed that she wouldn't encounter that anytime soon.

"Shirou, who is this?" asked the woman, glancing towards that man who had stepped forth with Pyrrha.

"I kinda didn't get her name," said the newly identified Shirou.

"Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos," announced the member of Team JNPR.

"Since you have stepped forward into my arena, I take it you to wish to do battle," said the woman as her grip on the bokken tightened ever so slightly.

"There's no need for that Saber, dinners almost ready," said Shirou before he turned his attention to Jaune and Pyrrha. "You're more than welcome to join us but I must warn you that it has been quite some time since I've been able to cook so I might be a bit rusty."

"I'm sure whatever you have cooked will be more than adequate," said Saber. Pyrrha meanwhile was biting at her lip having learned about the name of the person in front of her. Berserker. Lancer. Caster. While she hadn't fought the other two herself she had managed to get the identities of them out of both Weiss and Blake. She took a moment to correct herself. They weren't identities as much as they were titles which then begged the question, who were these warriors?

…

Pyrrha watched on as those around her ate their fill, Jaune especially seeming to have worked up an appetite as he filled up his bowl for what seemed like the third time. She herself had only partaken in select items on the spread in front of her. "I take it you have some questions," said Shirou. "The bigger ones will likely have to wait though."

"Alright then, who are you?" asked Pyrrha of her host.

"Emiya Shirou, prisoner of this world," said Shirou with a light smile.

"Wait, so is your first name Emiya or Shirou?" asked Jaune looking towards Saber who had called him by his apparent surname.

"Shirou is my given name but where we're from..."

"Hold on, prisoner!" said Pyrrha almost losing her grip on her bowl.

"And that unfortunately is one of the bigger ones," said Shirou. "We'll just have to wait until our friend gets back." The sudden sliding of one of the doors signaled that, in almost a well too clichéd fashion, the 'friend' Shirou had been speaking of had arrived. "Speak of the devil and they will appear," he said in a joking manner as he started filing up an extra bowl for the new guest.

Pyrrha weighed up the new woman in front of her and while she didn't quite feel the authority that Saber radiated she couldn't help but feel that this woman was one who was used to getting things her way. She wore a red sweater and had long black hair while her gaze almost tried to pierce into her very being.

"Shirou, who are these people?" she asked, straightening her back a fraction more as she looked down on them.

"Jaune and Pyrrha, this is Tohsaka," introduced Shirou.

"Wait, is that her first or last name?" asked Jaune.

Pyrrha meanwhile knew that there far greater questions were going to be resolved sooner rather than later.

…

 **Hope you enjoyed.  
**


	9. Breaking the Lock

**My apologies for messing up the Emiya/Shirou thing from last chapter, may have been mildly drunk and it probably showed in my writing. I've gone back and corrected it (at least I think it's now correct, please continue to inform me if I've done it wrong). Cheers.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **…**

Dinner now finished and the crockery now cleansed, Jaune and Pyrrha found themselves sitting side by side at the dinner table once more. In front of them sat Tohsaka and Shirou with Saber sitting at the head of the table with her eyes close, seemingly content with just listening in on the conversation that was about to come. "Well, at least you're younger than the last guy we met," said Tohsaka.

"You've met someone before?" asked Jaune.

"Of course we have, unlike what most of you people think this room doesn't contain a limitless amount of heroes to be summoned against," stated Tohsaka. "This world, much like how Shirou describes it, is a prison."

"But then, does that mean that you guys are criminals?" asked Jaune. "But then what's the point of all this then? Where are the guards?"

"You're seeing this as if it were a conventional prison," said Shirou. "Honestly there are only two occupants and you're looking at them."

"Umm, but there are three of you," said Jaune pointing out the obvious. "And we've also encountered Illyasviel and Berserker and our friends met even more people. So how are there only two occupants here?"

"Because we're the only two who are real," declared Tohsaka.

"Real?" repeated Pyrrha. "What do you mean by real?"

"I'm not sure if you've been hit by her but that feels pretty real to me," said Jaune indicating Saber.

"That's because it's how we remember it," said Shirou.

"I think it would be best if you start from the beginning," suggested Pyrrha.

"Very well then," said Tohsaka as Saber indulged in the tea laid out before her. "First and foremost, you two must have noticed some differences with this world compared to your own. The non-shattered moon is probably a good enough indication that this isn't quite what you're used to. This town was our home until such a day when we left, intent on furthering our studies abroad."

"As you can guess, that's when things got complicated," added Shirou.

"We don't know exactly what had happened, sabotage, otherworldly power or perhaps just sheer coincidence, but I guess the best way to describe it was that a rift was opened, one which flung us into this world of yours."

"So you're aliens?" said Jaune.

"We're as much a human as you are," said Tohsaka. "We theorize that we were sent to a different dimension or perhaps alternate timeline where the difference occurred hundreds of millions of years prior. Again, we have nothing but speculation to go on but the end result is the same regardless and there is little point dwelling on what can be changed. We were thrown into your world which was when we first encountered the monsters of your world. Needless to say, compared to what we had faced before, they could hardly be labelled as worthy competition."

"What you fought before, you mean people like Saber?" said Jaune as he took a glance at the blonde haired woman.

"To clarify things as quickly as I can, there was a hidden war going on in our city and Saber was one of seven Servants each summoned by a Master. Each Servant was unique and as you've experienced firsthand, extremely powerful. We fought against every foe that stepped before us and eventually were victorious, though not without some mishaps along the way."

"So the two of you were thrown into Remnant and were fighting the Grimm, what happened then?" asked Pyrrha trying to get the conversation back on track, however preposterous it seemed.

"Salem."

Despite it being but a single word, the contained rage with which Tohsaka spoke it made Jaune and Pyrrha feel as if this was a name they should never forget.

"As far as we can tell, she controls or at least has some manner of control over, what did you call them, Grimm?" asked Tohsaka, getting an affirmative nod for her question before continuing. "Anyways, we fought and for a while it looked like we were going to win. The entire time however she had been focusing her energy, going easy on us and the moment we let our guard down she struck and we found ourselves here. Here however is not the same as our home."

"As for how we became a part of your school, we don't know," said Shirou. "What we do know however is that as soon as a student comes in here and subsequently gets beaten by one of the Heroic Spirits is the only time where we are actually able to figure our situation. The world, for lack of a better word, resets whenever a new group enters. When nobody is in this realm it is as if time simply stops, we don't know how much time has passed in between when the first person dies to when the next person arrives."

Pyrrha cupped her chin in her hand as she contemplated that. If the two before her were indeed caught in an infinite loop it would explain why they looked as young as they did. Professor Oobleck had stated how he had fought someone in this room when he had been a student which had to be some manner of years prior. "So how do we get you guys out?" asked Jaune. Pyrrha quickly whipped her head around to look at her partner. The two people sitting before them were considered dangerous enough by this Salem person to be locked away in a separate reality, something which now that she was thinking about it seemed even more impossible than she first thought. Despite that, her leader still wanted to free the people in front of her. She still couldn't help but question however if this was all a trap.

"There's nothing you can do," declared Tohsaka. "Just by being in here for as long as you can allows us to try and figure out our own way out."

"But what if you die?"

Pyrrha couldn't help but wince at the thought. For some reason, this room merely sent the deceased back to the academy. That however only seemed the case for those who entered through the door, for those already in here however it likely was another story altogether, one which likely didn't have a happy ending.

"Thanks for your concern, but we'll be fine," stated Shirou.

"You can't be serious," stated Pyrrha feeling as if the whole thing was too far-fetched for her liking. She had been patient and listened to what Tohsaka and Shirou had had to say but it had long since passed the point of sanity and was delving into obscurity. Even with their belief that they would be as Shirou had so blatantly put it, 'fine,' against these monstrous beings. "Since you two are, as you have said, are the only two 'real' people here, just what is she?"

Saber lifted her head, finding an accusing finger pointed in her direction. "If you must know, I am a construct of this world, shaped by the very walls around us," she stated, her eyes sharpening at the question. "The form that I, along with the others roaming this world, were plucked from my Master's mind. What that witch saw in us was strength to keep my Master here, locked away seemingly for an eternity. What she failed to realize though were that we are not the puppets she assumed we would be. Due to our nature, our very existence, we are immune to most manipulations of the mind. All of us are grateful to simply be alive once more and the idea that our existence could be erased by ending Shirou's life ensure that both he and Rin are safe."

"That's…I don't even know what to say," said Jaune.

"How do we know that anything you've said is the truth?" asked Pyrrha.

"You're right to be questioning us," said Tohsaka as she crossed her arms. "If I were sitting where you were I wouldn't believe anything we'd been saying either. As far as the two of you, as well as everybody else in your world is concerned, we are just constructs created by this room to mess with your mind. Before the night is over, the two of you will return to your own dimension and will either choose to forget this in its entirety or believe that there is indeed a great evil out there that sees the two of us as a threat."

"Show me," declared Pyrrha as she slammed her hands on the table. "Prove to me just why you two are so dangerous."

"Very well," said Shirou as he slowly got to his feet. "Saber, you and Tohsaka should continue our work. Any continuation on the work we last got done will be a great help."

"You don't have to tell me twice," said Tohsaka as she stood up, Saber obediently following suit. "Just don't end it too quickly, the longer they're alive the more work we can get done."

Jaune flinched at that comment as the two women left the room. Had Blake and Yang been kept alive for as long as they had simply for another one of the, spirits he guessed was an appropriate term, to accomplish some goal of their own. If Shirou and Tohsaka were adamant about finding a way out of here and these spirits were constructs of their minds, it made sense that they too would be finding a way to escape. Nervously, he too got to his feet and stayed close to Pyrrha as she followed Shirou towards the garden.

At first glance, anybody would think that the famed Pyrrha Nikos would have the upper advantage in the fight to come having never been beaten in single combat (as far as his knowledge was concerned). The people of this world however were of a different breed to them, an hour fighting against Saber had taught him enough of that. If Saber referred to Shirou as her Master than he couldn't help but feel that he was about to witness something both equal parts amazing and terrifying.

It didn't take them long to reach the courtyard, both Pyrrha and Shirou walking to opposite ends of their impromptu battleground. They turned almost at the same time, Pyrrha readily arming herself as Shirou simply stood there. Jaune couldn't help but be confused, he hadn't seen Shirou pick up any weapon along the way so was he simply intending to fight against his partner with just his fists.

"Trace On."

The words felt more like a commandment than anything before Pyrrha and Jaune watched on in shock as electricity started dancing around Shirou's body. He seemed in no pain whatsoever before two blades flashed into existence, one in each of his waiting palms. Jaune couldn't help but feel that if Ruby got the chance to look at the swords before her she would squeal in ecstasy. Even he could tell that they were amazing to look at, two parts of a matching set with one white as bone and the other black as obsidian.

Now wielding his weapons, Pyrrha rushed forward and Jaune watched as she intended to spear Shirou through the chest. The black blade knocked the tip of the spear off course and Jaune watched as Pyrrha attempted to use the momentum to turn on the spot, the back end of her spear nearly connecting with Shirou's jaw. Milo morphed in her hand, shifting to its shortened blade form by the time she was facing her opponent once more.

The clang of metal against metal rang out, Pyrrha swinging several times and Shirou almost casually deflecting it each and every time. Shirou struck out, the white blade ricocheting against Akouo and leaving his right side exposed. The huntress in training could see the opening the moment it appeared and acted accordingly, intent on ending this in the next attack. Milo swung forth, slashing through the air.

It was not so easy.

Shirou twirled the blade in his hand so that the tip was pointing down, the flat of the connecting with Pyrrha's wrist and halting the momentum. She reacted in time to duck beneath the follow up, flipping backwards as Milo shifted shape once more before being thrust forward, an explosion at the base of the spear causing it to shoot forward at immense speed. To Shirou who had fought against heroes of legend however the speed was nothing that he couldn't negotiate.

A small step to the side caused the spear to pierce through his shirt yet leave his skin untouched. Pyrrha meanwhile found herself without a weapon temporarily in her hand and waited patiently for Shirou to follow up on her vulnerability. She would dodge accordingly, strike with her feet and knees while protecting herself with Akouo.

She waited, yet he didn't follow up.

Instead, she watched as he reached down and pulled Milo from the ground and tossed it to her. Plucking it from the air, she watched as he shifted back into his stance, a small smile across his face. Pyrrha couldn't help but feel that he was enjoying this far more than he should have been and scowled as she prepared to charge forward once more, intent on wiping that smirk off his face.

Jaune meanwhile watched as time and time again Pyrrha attempted to get the upper hand over Shirou. Every flip, every elaborate move that he could only dream he had the mobility to perform was countered with surprising ease as she kept striking at openings only to be blocked, parried and dodged each and every time. He could only believe that Pyrrha was getting slowly more frustrated by her lack of ability to break through his near impenetrable defence.

The strange thing though was that while he was countering and forcing her on the defensive time and time again, he never pushed the assault. Jaune couldn't help but feel that Shirou was simply enjoying himself, wanting to make this fight go on for as long as he could. Trapped in this world, Jaune couldn't blame him.

Several more minutes passed before Jaune saw a shift in balance. Pyrrha noticed it as well as Shirou stepped forward, his stance altering ever so slightly before he exploded forward far faster than she would have thought. Akouo was raised and blocked the first strike which had far more force behind it than anything he had thrown thus far. She jumped and rotated her body in midair, dodging out of the way of the follow up strike but was struck by Shirou's foot, the first attack he had made with his legs and an unsurprising one that knocked her to the ground. She rolled out of the way where Shirou stabbed at the ground, or so she thought he would do. Instead as she lifted her head she found the twin blades having been thrown and only inches away from her face.

Jaune couldn't help but watch as Pyrrha Nikos, the 'Invincible Girl,' suffered her first loss and vanished from this plane of existence.

"I haven't had a workout like that in a long time," said Shirou as he wiped some sweat off his brow with the back of his arm before starting to walk towards Jaune.

"Are you going to kill me now?" asked Jaune knowing full well that if Pyrrha had died facing the man before him then he had little chance.

"Not yet," said Shirou. "In a couple hours we will. As much as we'd like to be animated for as long as possible we know that you have your own life to live and if you're missing for too long then your teammates will get worried. You came here to train though, so while Saber and Tohsaka are working on getting us out of here then I guess it's up to me to train you"

Jaune couldn't help but feel like death was the better option.

…

Pyrrha woke up in the hospital wing, sunlight streaming in through the window. Twisting her head, she saw that Jaune was in the bed close by still asleep. She had no clue how much longer he had remained in the room but she was grateful that he had escaped and was now by her side.

Her thoughts drifted to the occupants that were still there, that would perhaps forever be there. Were they truly people, or other manifestations constructed by that world? Jaune, the believer that he was, would undoubtedly want to spend more time in there in order to allow Tohsaka and Shirou time to find a way out, whether or not it was possible. Yet she couldn't simply allow him to continue going in only to die time and time again. What if he ran into the person that Yang and Blake had and was tortured unceremoniously?

Pushing herself into a seated position, Pyrrha knew that Jaune was someone who wanted to help others, whether he could or not. He was a kind person and she respected him for that. It was why, as she looked upon the key sitting on the cabinet next to where Jaune was still sleeping, she would do something which he might not forgive him for.

It was subtle, something that nobody would likely even notice as she used her polarity, morphing they key and altering its shape ever so slightly. On the surface it would seem that nothing had changed. That key however would never open that room again.

The room would remain shut forever.

…

 **Hope you enjoyed.**


	10. Fresh Entry

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or RWBY**

 **…**

Yang stepped off the previously airborne vessel near the back of the class, all of the teams having been assigned to collect sap from Forever Fall **.** A mind numbingly boring exercise that seemingly had no real purpose but one that they were told was mandatory for every first year student. Trailing behind Ruby, Blake and Weiss, she played it as she normally would, tossing her glass jar from side to side with little care were she to drop it.

The last few days had been interesting to say the least. It hadn't taken long for Ren and Nora to discover that their teammates had gone behind what everyone had agreed on and entered the room. Well Jaune had taken the entirety of the blame for the misadventure, declaring that Pyrrha had only tried to rescue him from the demise she feared he was doomed to. It was clear however that there was something regarding the room that they wished to discuss but were uncomfortable with. Like with how she and Blake had not been pushed into saying anything, none of their group would force Pyrrha and Jaune into saying anything they didn't want to.

Thankfully, she had someone else whom she could discuss the topic with.

 _'You got any idea why Jaune and Pyrrha are so quiet?'_

 _'I may have a few theories but for now we have work to do.'_

 _'You call collecting tree sap work?'_

 _'For the lower class perhaps. For us however we have much grander goals in mind.'_

 _'How long is this going to take?'_

 _'Ten minutes tops.'_

 _'And you're going to let me back in control if anything goes wrong?'_

 _'If there is anything I cannot handle, I assure you that I will let you take deal with the situation.'_

 _'Okay then.'_

Yang had been sceptical about giving control to Caster ever since they had first made contact. The mage (she refused to call her a witch after the last time the word had been mentioned) had tortured her for hours all seemingly for the purpose of getting out of that dimension, the why had never been brought up in conversation. Likewise though, Caster had never brought up Yang's past and there was a mutual understanding that if neither of them wished to speak on the topic then it would remain unspoken.

Taking a deep breath, Yang closed her eyes and felt out for the other soul residing within her body. Opening once more was an odd sensation as she had little control over what she was seeing. She could vaguely her teammates before her, their forms little more than a blur as she felt her lips moving yet could not hear anything. ' _Don't worry.'_ Caster's voice echoed around her, as if coming from every direction at once. ' _Your senses were momentarily disconnected and will return shortly.'_

 _'That's reassuring.'_

Caster made no response as she started running, Yang able to feel her body move yet had no real way of controlling the movement. Odd was the only real word she could think of to describe the sensation. Slowly the world before her came back into plain view and then some, as if her vision was enhanced. As her body rushed past trees Yang was able to see clearer than she ever had as if the world around her was almost glowing. No, it was glowing.

 _'How does it feel to look through my eyes?'_

 _'This is how you see the world?'_

 _'Yes.'_

Yang chose not to question any further and focused on what was ahead. Even if she had no control over her actions didn't mean that she didn't want to be unaware of what was happening. Another minute passed before Yang's body slowed down to a stop in the middle of a clearing.

 _'So what exactly was this grander goal you were speaking of?'_

Caster didn't respond to Yang's question before the sound of a falling tree caught their attention. Yang's body turned slowly as large footsteps grew closer and closer before they found themselves staring at an Ursa, the beast standing several feet taller than them and had multiple bone fragments sticking out of their back. Beady red eyes glared at them before it roared, primal fury being directed squarely at them.

' _Give me control, quick!'_

Silence. The Ursa raised its paw and prepared to strike.

 _'Caster, hurry!'_

Caster once more didn't respond but instead remained motionless as the Grimm before them attacked. Yang desperately willed her body to move but she could not even blink as the Ursa attacked.

The Ursa's arm crashed to the floor, severed from its body, a purple beam of light was all that Yang had been able to see. Two more beams of light shot forth and cleanly cut through the Ursa's legs, the great beast tumbling to the floor and it roared once more, in pain or confusion Yang couldn't tell. Caster controlled the body, stepping forward and placing Yang's hand on the chest of the beast who flailed about on the ground before going still. The light swiftly faded from its eyes before it dissipated into nothingness.

' _What. Was. That?'_

 _'A theory proved right.'_

 _'Alright Caster, I've got some questions for you.'_

 _'I believe you do but it would be wise to speak of them after, the roar of this creature was likely heard by your fellow students and you're going to have to give them the story on how you defeated it.'_

Yang grumbled only to find that the sound was indeed coming from her throat, Caster having given her the reins of her own body once more. Flexing her fingers to test out that her body was in fact completely in her control once more, Yang looked at the where the Ursa had laid powerless before the might of Caster. The battle against an Ursa which would have, no, should have taken both a lot longer and had ended up with her taking some manner of damage had been over before she could contemplate what was happening. Heck, she still didn't know what had happened!

Whatever it was though was powerful, that was all that she knew at the moment. It hadn't even taken a second for an Ursa to be almost begging for death, or at least what she assumed could be interpreted as begging for death. It was frightening.

What was perhaps more frightening was the fact that Ruby was likely on the way here using her semblance to race here far quicker than the rest of the students and it would be up to her to explain that nothing had happened. Or at least nothing worth worrying about. Damn this was going to be hard.

…

At dinner that evening, Weiss wasn't eating at the rate at which the other occupants of the table were. Arguably nobody could keep up with the rate which Nora ate but that was beside the point. "Everything alright Weiss?" asked Ruby noticing that Weiss had barely had more than a few mouthfuls of food.

"Yea," she replied almost dismissively.

"You know you can talk to us about anything right?"

"Yea."

Ruby pouted at the fact that she wasn't likely to get anything more than single word answers but chose not to think about it too much right now. Clearly something was on her mind and if she didn't want to speak about it right now then there was no point forcing her to do so. Especially when there was another option.

…

Pyrrha sat in the quarters she shared with her teammates, polishing her armour as she did almost every night. The routine, while boring at times, was one that had been drilled into her at a young age. Fighting, training, competing. Each of these meant that her armour an weapons would get dirty from dirt, grime and on the very rare occasion, blood. Never hers though.

Ren and Nora occupied the room with her, Jaune having excused himself some time ago saying that he was going to go get some training done on the rooftop. While Ren and Nora had paid it little attention, Pyrrha had watched as he had grabbed hold of the key she had previously tampered with, her polarity ensuring that Jaune wouldn't be able to access that room. Hopefully that would have directed him off to the rooftops or somewhere else where he would be able to train without the imminent fear of death clinging to him.

They were first year students, a term had not yet passed and yet she had experienced death twice. She, who had fought through competitions again and again and walked away with no more than a scratch, had been killed on two separate occasions. She knew that were she to come across a true huntsman that she would likely be defeated but not without putting up some manner of fight. The battle with Berserker was nothing to go off, his destructive nature and seemingly endless stamina made him an unstoppable juggernaut and she prayed she never encountered anything of that magnitude in this lifetime.

Shirou was another matter.

All of her acrobatics and showmanship, all of her skill and strength had been torn down piece by piece. Having spent so many years being groomed into the pinnacle huntsman in training, well before she had even stepped foot in Beacon, her ego had gotten to her on more than one occasion. It was why she was so grateful that Jaune was her teammate. He never treated her any differently because of her past. It was so nice being treated as someone other than the Invincible Girl.

And she had been beaten as Jaune watched on from the sidelines.

Placing her armour down, Pyrrha rubbed at her eyes as once more she found herself thinking about that battle. Never before had she been so unable to do anything in a fight. He had so many openings simply begging to be taken advantage of and each time she had struck for victory he had countered her. Possibly the strangest part however had been her semblance had had such little effect on his twin weapons. She knew that they were metal, the sound they made when clashing with Milo was obvious. Yet when she had tried to use her semblance to gain that hint of an advantage, to slide past his guard for that fraction of a second her power had failed her. If anything there had been a touch of a mental backlash, as if the sword had a will of its own declaring that it would move for none other than its wielder.

It was farfetched and completely impossible for a weapon to have any kind of feeling, any kind of awareness of what was happening but it truly what she had felt. It was something she never wanted to encounter again.

A knocking on the door snapped her out of her stupor and Pyrrha watched as Nora basically leapt off of her bed and launched herself at the door, almost tearing it off its hinges as she opened it. "Ruby, Weiss, how's it going?" she asked in a voice that clearly demanded that they entertain her in some way, shape or form.

"Hey Nora," said Ruby as she clutched onto Weiss' arm with a vice like grip. "Weiss' here is feeling a bit down in the dumps at the moment so I'm taking us to go get our butt's handed to us."

"Are you sure subjecting yourself to death is the best way to raise one's spirits?" asked Ren as he looked up from his homework.

"Of course," said Ruby as if it was the obvious answer.

"And how do you feel about this Weiss?" asked Pyrrha.

"Honestly, I used this to cheer Ruby up and it worked wonders," said Weiss as she shrugged her shoulders. "It may not help me to the same degree but it will be nice to take my mind off of things."

Pyrrha contemplated those words as she wondered just what it was that Weiss was thinking about to put her in such a mood but chose not to pry. "Well if you're looking for the key Jaune took it earlier."

"He did!" screeched Nora in shock.

"Well then I guess we'll head there now and meet him either in there or unconscious out the front," said Ruby cheerfully as she started to march away, dragging Weiss with her. At least until Nora burst out of the doorway.

"Hold it right there sisters, you two have already been in there two more times than me and I am not sitting on the sidelines again," she declared. "Give me thirty seconds."

With that, Nora re-entered the room and started preparing herself for combat, her actions almost a blur as she armed herself. Ren seemed moderately disinterested, not even fretting about the fact that his friend was marching off to her death. Pyrrha meanwhile watched on knowing that she would have to deal with a sulky Nora once she discovered that Jaune had no way of getting in. She knew that she had done the right thing. She only hoped that Jaune would understand were he ever to find out.

…

"Why. Won't. It. Open!"

Nora's words echoed through the hallway as she fiddled with the handle recklessly and Weiss had the feeling that the mallet wielding student would use that weapon of hers momentarily to bust her way through. It was clear though that the door was still locked, perhaps meaning that Jaune wasn't even in there in the first place.

She turned to look at Ruby, the young girl seemingly disheartened by her attempt to cheer her up having gone sour. It wasn't her fault that Jaune hadn't come here, nor was it her fault that she was in a less than bright mood. She had received word that a large shipment of her family's Dust produce had been ransacked and stolen by the White Fang. Something that was completely out of her control and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She would have been over it by the next morning regardless but Ruby being Ruby demanded that she be cheered up immediately. Having done the same thing not so long ago, Weiss had agreed.

Now though it seemed that it was all for nought.

"Hey guys," said Jaune, the leader of team JNPR startling the other three students as he spoke from behind them.

"Jaune, please tell me you got the key!" Nora begged of her leader, covering the distance between the two of them in a manner of seconds.

"Of course," said Jaune as he pulled the item out of his pocket. "I had to go get another one from Professor Ozpin though, it looked as if the last one had been bent when it had been taken out of the lock. Apparently he's got dozens of copies."

Weiss flinched at that, wondering why the school headmaster would have so many keys all leading to a room where children were encouraged to go and die. It was a thought which would have to be built on at a later date however as Jaune marched forward and inserted the key into the lock. It was time to see just what kind of monster they would be fighting today.

…

 **Hope you enjoyed.**


	11. Reconnaiscance

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

 **…**

Jaune opened his eyes silently praying that he would find himself once more in the backyard he had found himself in last time he stepped through in through that all too familiar door. Sadly, it wasn't to be but he was somewhat grateful that he wasn't being attacked at that moment. It was somewhat surprising to find that he had his weapon and shield already up and ready, Saber's teachings already showing off.

"So…is the guy we're meant to fight up there?" questioned Nora as she pointed towards the intimidating looking staircase straight ahead of them.

"If I had to hazard a guess, I would say yes," stated Weiss, the member of the Schnee family lifting her gaze to look towards the summit. She then took a quick moment to look at her surroundings and noticed they were on a road with the stairwell in front of them surrounded by a dense forest. It was clear that there was only one easy path up and if their opponent had any kind of long ranged weapon on them they would be easy pickings.

Nora's grip tightened on her hammer as a wicked smile spread across her face. "Well then, what are we waiting for!"

"Wait!"

The three female warriors turned to look at Jaune, the sole male member of their troop having startled them. "What is it?" asked Ruby.

"Well…you see the thing is…" said Jaune slowly as he tried to come up with something. He for one wasn't keen to simply charge into death's door once more and if anything he would love to encounter Saber once more to resume his training. He also wanted to be here as long as possible to ensure that he gave Shirou and Rin as much time as he could to help them find a way to escape from here. "We only just got here and this is the first time where we aren't being attacked. We should use this time to explore and umm…go on an adventure?"

Despite him sounding so unsure of himself, there was one word in that statement which triggered one of the group. "Hell yea, it's adventure time!" Nora practically screamed. "We've got our friends, we're in a distant land, or world or whatever this is. Let's go have some fun!"

Weiss looked towards Ruby as if searching for guidance, the youngest of the group seemingly biting at her lip as if trying to come to a decision. Weiss knew that her team leader had basically dragged her in here for a fight in order to cheer her up from something that was completely unrelated. It didn't even have to do with anything with the school. It was a Schnee family matter and she had no reason to discuss it with her teammates. Her refusal to speak up on the topic however had essentially doomed her to return here once more. Were they to go exploring again there was a possibility that they would run into Lancer once more. She couldn't help but hope that was the case.

"Alright," declared Ruby. "The more we learn about whatever this is the more we can prepare ourselves for next time."

Weiss internally cringed at the complete thought that Ruby was already considering the next time that they would venture into this world. Still though, despite sounding as masochist as it was, she did enjoy coming here to a certain degree. Being born into such a prestigious family and having seen the amazing warrior that her sister had become, she had believed that she was destined for great things. Then she had stepped foot into this room and quite literally great strength and skill had hit her faster than she could consider what was going on.

Her fight alongside Ruby against the incredibly talented Lancer had shown her many things both with her own level of skill and the belief she needed in her teammates. She couldn't waste precious seconds looking over her shoulder to check if Ruby was following up in any way, shape or form. She had to simply believe that Ruby was as much a fighter as she was and that she would react accordingly. This was something that they would have learned down the track but may have taken weeks, months or even longer at the worst case scenario. Simply put, that was a taste of what this room had provided for their team dynamic thus far. She couldn't wait to see what else this area could teach them.

"So, if we're using this trip as a reconnaissance mission, should we split up into pairs," suggested Weiss. "While we will be more vulnerable that way I don't really think it matters one way or another. At least this way we'll be able to cover more ground and explore more of this town."

"What town?" asked Nora, her response coming with the three other students pointing in the opposite direction of the stairwell. Looking at where they were pointing, Nora got her first actual glimpse of the size of the world they were in. "What the hell!"

"Yea, I kinda felt the same way," said Ruby sheepishly as she rubbed at the back of her head. "What about you Jaune?"

Jaune put away his weapons that he only just realized he still had out prepared for battle before scratching at his shoulder. "The last place I arrived in was a backyard of sorts," he said. "Managed to get a view in of the streets and whatnot before being forced into battle."

"Alright, so you guys go explore the town," said Nora pointing towards the two members of team RWBY. "Do what you need to do and explore every nook and cranny you can find."

"Where will you two go?" asked Weiss before Nora sent a chilling smile her way, the cheerful girl turning her gaze towards the staircase.

Jaune quickly started to mutter something barely coherent, it was clear however that his intention was to stop Nora's train of thought to little success. "I don't know about Jaune, but I came here for a fight. If they're up there, and I so hope they are, we'll do a little reconnaissance of our own. While you two are going to be getting the world downpat I'll be getting ready to tell you exactly how badly we kicked this guy's ass!"

Jaune resisted the urge to smack himself in the forehead at Nora's logic. Unfortunately he knew from prior experience that once his teammate had set her sights on something it was almost impossible to make her decision waver in the slightest. Still though, his priority was allowing Rin and Shirou to continue their work for as long as possible. If that meant that he had to stall for time against an opponent he was likely not combat ready for, then so be it.

He simply hoped that he didn't go down without a fight.

"Well then…best of luck," said Ruby softly as she signaled for Weiss to follow her as she leapt over the railing. Weiss merely shook her head as she watched her team captain completely ignore the safe route of the road for the illogical option. Taking a second to think about it however reminded her that the leader of Team RWBY was indeed the impulsive young girl which had already dropped who knew how many dozen of feet. It made perfect sense.

"Very well, if this is the course of action that you two are set on, then I wish you both the best of luck," declared Weiss before she charged forward and leapt over the railing much as Ruby had seconds earlier.

With Weiss and Ruby having left them alone, Jaune took a moment to ruffle away at the back of his head, scratching away at some stray bits of hair. "Are you sure about this?" he asked his teammate.

"No."

Jaune was genuinely taken back as he turned to his teammate only to find her visibly shaking, her gaze focused directly at her feet. Nora continued, "I'm scared, I mean if this person is anything like Berserker then we're going to get slaughtered."

"But why…"

"Why did I come? Because I need to get stronger so that the next time something like that happens I'll be able to do something," said Nora as tears began to stream down her face. Jaune didn't know just what 'something' she was talking about but knew better than to question about it now or perhaps even at all. If the pink haired fighter wanted to tell him at some stage then he would wait until that point, there was no way that he would force the information out of her. Nora rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand as she lifted her head to face Jaune. "I need to get stronger and stronger and stronger. Class and training can get me so far but it doesn't show how close I am actually getting towards my goal. That's why from now on Jaune whenever you come in here to train and fight you will bring me, understand."

Jaune bit at the inside of his lip as he listened to Nora's plea. To a degree it was true what she was saying in that there was no real way in Beacon to test how much further you were progressing. Everybody else in their classes were also trying their best to graduate and become fully fledged huntsmen. Hence unless you made an incredible leap in skill your fighting skill would evolve at roughly the same rate as those around you.

Here however it was a different story. The spirits plucked from Shirou's mind were incredibly powerful and were an incredibly convenient measuring stick. Even with his practice spars with Saber, every second he was able to prevent himself from getting felt like a milestone. A practice battle lasting more than four strikes when he could barely deal one to begin with was something to be proud about. Then exhaustion began to creep up on him after so many consecutive spars and he was barely able to land a single hit but the point was still there.

Even now with an unknown opponent in front of them, Jaune couldn't help but create some miniature goals in his mind. If he could block six attacks and land a single strike he felt as if he could die with a smile on his face and go forth tomorrow with a spring in his step. Sure it didn't sound like much but against opponents of this caliber it was better to aim low.

"Alright then," said Jaune as he slowly pulled his sword out of it's sheath before changing the weapon concealer into it's shield form. "Let's go kick some ass." Nora allowed a smile to spread across her face as she wiped away the last of her tears.

"Jaune…thank you."

"Anytime."

…

Walking through the isolated streets was unnerving to say the least, almost to the point where Ruby was more than a little tempted to reach out and take Weiss' hand in her own. Weiss was feeling almost as worried as her teammate but was doing a much better job of hiding it...for the moment. Were anything to come out and startle her at that moment she had no true inkling of how she would react, other than it would be unacceptable to retell such a tale in the face of her sister.

The thought of her sister along with the landscape they were traversing at the slowest of speeds begged the question whether her sister had faced such warriors during her training. Her sister was powerful, and she didn't just say that because Weiss looked up to Winter. Her skills were what had helped drive Weiss to take up the rapier, and she couldn't have been happier with her decision to do so. Her father however...

"Weiss look out!" shouted Ruby as she pushed Weiss to the side, barely managing to get out of the way of the spear that struck the concrete, cracks spreading out like spiderwebs all across the floor.

Weiss whispered a quick word of thanks as she got back to her feet and watched as the weapon which had nearly pierced vanished in a golden glow. "What the...no, where did that come from?" questioned Weiss, annoyed with herself for not having seen that attack before nearly being skewered. She could already picture Lancer berating her for not being aware of her surroundings.

"Oh, I'm surprised my attack has not spilled the blood of commoners upon the streets," spoke a voice from the dimly lit streets.

"Where are you, show yourself!" demanded Weiss feeling more than a touch insulted an being referred to as a commoner.

"Ha, as if I would need to hide from such pathetic mongrels," said the voice once more, clearer this time and allowing Ruby and Weiss to turn their gaze upwards ever so slightly to one of the nearby rooftops. Upon the tiled surface sat a young man with spiky blonde hair and wearing oddly casual attire. Compared to when they had encountered Lancer who looked as if he were always prepared for battle, the person before them almost seemed as if he was just relaxing after an evening stroll.

"Who are you?" asked Ruby as she readied her weapon, Weiss almost mirroring her movements as the two of them braced for battle.

This would not be a battle however.

It was more appropriate to say that this would merely be a lion toying with mice and as a golden glow appeared behind the man, both Ruby and Weiss felt that they had encountered the worst possible enemy.

…

 **Hope you enjoyed**


	12. Overwhelmed

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay Night**

…

Jaune somehow managed to raise his shield in time to divert the attack which had threatened to slice out his eyes before righting his balance and avoided tumbling down the stairs. As he steadied himself, Nora sped past, warhammer in hand as she did her best to break through the defence their opponent had. Once more though her offensive move was swiftly cut short as the pommel of her hammer had to be used in order to prevent herself from being skewered.

They had been going like this for what seemed far too long for Jaune and he could tell instantly that the man before them was taking it easy on them. As he had stated earlier, they were here for a fight while he was there to protect the gate. So long as their sole goal was to defeat him and nothing more, than he would not use all the strength at his disposal. It was mildly insulting but again, the longer Jaune went without finding himself pierced by that ridiculously oversized katana the better.

"Jaune!" shouted Nora as she raced towards him, a definitive look in her eye. Understanding, Jaune braced himself behind his shield as Nora leapt at him feet first, planting herself on the shield before Jaune used all the strength he could muster to launch Nora skywards. It was a move they had constructed a few weeks prior to deal with flying enemies but this would be a first to use it on a grounded foe.

Jaune knew that now he needed to get Assassin's attention, the title of the one before them still sending shivers down his spine. There was only a handful of seconds in between when Nora would crash to the ground (and hopefully do some manner of damage) which meant he needed to act now. Charging up the steps as quickly as he could, Jaune, tossed his sword forward before hiding behind his shield. The clang of metal against metal informed him that his weapon had been knocked away and he hoped that he could barrel into Assassin and knock him off balance for only a single moment to allow Nora her chance.

Pain ripped through his shoulder and he cried out in pain. Gritting his teeth to deal with the agony, Jaune saw that Assassin's blade had penetrated straight through his shield and subsequently through his shoulder. The worst part was yet to come however as Assassin displayed strength he hadn't yet shown to lift Jaune into the air and swinging his katana around and causing Jaune to crash with Nora who was in mid fall. The two of them crashed into nearby trees and Jaune could feel straight away that that had been their best and possibly only option. Once again however it was to no avail.

"I must commend you on your teamwork," declared Assassin as he swung his katana with such speed that Jaune's blood flicked to the ground. "While unorthodox, your styles do compliment each other and I encourage you to continue your training."

"So what, you're just letting us go?" Nora said, ignoring the pain that coursed through her body.

"While you have provided some entertainment, I have no intention of having the blood of children on my hands," declared Assassin as he turned his back on Nora and Jaune and proceeded up the stairs. Nora made to reach for her weapon but Jaune's hand on her shoulder prevented her from doing anything rash...er.

"Dammit!" she shouted as she smashed her fist into the ground, causing Jaune to chuckle lightly as he applied pressure against the wound in his shoulder. "What's so funny Jaune?"

Jaune couldn't help but smile as he stared upwards towards the canopy. "That's exactly how I felt the first time I snuck in here, and I gotten beaten far more than we just did. Even if he was going easy on us, I think we did well here tonight. Face it, his name was Assassin."

"Your right! He could've ninjad us as soon as we got here but he chose to fight us instead!" Jaune just smiled awkwardly, not exactly the point he had been trying to make but it would still help Nora in understanding that regardless of how much they had improved in the academy their opponents in this realm were far greater. Forcing himself to his feet, relying on Nora for support Jaune took a momentary glance at the top of the stairwell where he knew Assassin was silently waiting for his next opponent. The stairs themselves seemed to serve as a good visualisation for just how far out of reach they were from someone of that skill level.

"C'mon," he said as he started heading in the other direction. "Maybe we'll run into Ruby and Weiss provided that they haven't found anyone."

"Or someone's found them," said Nora in her back to normal happy go lucky voice. While glad the Nora was back to her old self, Jaune knew that he was asking his teammate to wander through this mostly isolated town for his own somewhat selfish purposes. He sincerely doubted that Ruby and Weiss still remained in this realm, or hopefully hadn't encountered someone similar to what Yang and Blake had back when they had come in here. If they needed saving, he would do his best but he had little doubt that the two of them were long gone by now.

…

Ruby squealed in fright as she dove to the side, another spear penetrating the space she had only just vacated before vanishing ina golden light, not even giving her the time to admire the weapon. It had only been due to her semblance of speed that she had survived for as long as she had. Even so she had suffered numerous lacerations and her cloak had been torn to shreds in the early part of the bout, if she could even call it that.

Her oh so precious Crescent Rose had been destroyed early on she she had attempted to deflect an attack that had threatened to end the suffering right there and then. In hindsight, it may have just been better to take the attack and have ended it.

Weiss had fallen early on but Ruby had had no time to mourn, even now when she was short of breath she caught glimpses of the portals of light opening above her head and reacted quickly. Sadly though it was not quick enough, a golden plated sabre piercing through her leg and pinning her to the ground. She screamed out in agony but that was just the start as three more weapons pinned her mobility, nailing her to the ground through both her arms and her other leg. Tears streamed down her face and she couldn't help but fear that this person wished to sate some sort of insatiable amount of violence upon her prone body. The footsteps growing ever closer sounded like thunderclaps and she knew that she was at this person's mercy, and she somehow felt that they weren't feeling merciful in the slightest.

The footsteps stopped however and Ruby clenched her eyes closed as she braced herself for whatever pain she was next to suffer, but nothing came. "So you've finally stepped into the open mongrel," he said, confusion racking through Ruby's mind. Was there someone else here? Had Jaune and Nora come to receive a similar fate?

"Gilgamesh," said a voice that Ruby didn't recognize. "You were crafted from my memories, hence you know exactly what happened last time we fought."

"Trying to bait me into combat is pointless, for when I defeat you I'm more than aware that this world will crumble around me. Still though, dealing with a mongrel like you would be worth it." Ruby could hear the venom spilling from Gilgamesh's voice. Whatever happened between the person who had decimated Weiss and herself and this mystery person who had seemingly clashed with the overpowered monstrosity before was serious.

"Enough!" Another new voice, a female this time. The tone of her voice was a stark comparison to the male who had seemingly come to her aid. She sounded strong, the tone in which she said that single word demanded respect and obedience. "Leave."

"Saber, seems like you're bringing out all your options mongrel," scoffed Gilgamesh. "Fine then, do with her as you wish."

The sound of Gilgamesh walking away had Ruby worried for a moment. There she was, prone and unable to do literally anything to defend herself, and the person who fought Gilgamesh and not only lived but by the sounds of it actually was victorious, was standing behind her with someone named Saber. She wasn't sure if she should be more or less worried about her predicament.

Only once for the footsteps in front of her finally left her sense of hearing, she could listen to the people behind her move towards her body. Ruby clenched her eyes shut and braced for the worst.

"Are you alright?" asked Saber, kneeling in front of Ruby, the tone of her voice no longer full of malice and spite but rather caring. Ruby opened her eyes and found Saber before her and a sense of hope and wonderment filled her very being. She could tell straight away that the woman before her wouldn't harm her and that she would only use whatever weapons she possessed (a saber of some variety if Ruby was to assume having fought alongside Weiss against Lancer who, unsurprisingly, wielded a lance) would only do so for for the better. This was the kind of woman she aspired to be, and she could tell so just from the look that she gave her, a helpless defenceless girl crying in the middle of the street.

"Are you alright?" Saber asked once more and all that Ruby could do was nod, despite the fact of the amount of pain she was in.

"I'm sorry for this," said the boy who had saved her before ripping the sword out of her left leg. Ruby couldn't help but scream out in pain, watching through tear stained eyes at Sabre before her. She knew, she could never truly realise just how, that these two people had saved her from a more painful fate.

One by one the blades were ripped from her limbs, each one more painful than the last but each and every time she cried out in agony, Saber's hand reached out and cupped her cheek. Her voice, one vicious and demanding now ensuring her that everything would be alright. One by one the blades were ripped from her limbs until she was fully mobile again, if not for the immense pain she was feeling. "Thank you," Ruby said softly, her words barely carrying to those who had saved her.

"Shirou, I know time is both our ally and our foe, but is too much of our attention going to ensure she's stays alive or those few minutes going to be used on the matter at hand?" asked Saber of the recently acknowledged Shirou. Once again Ruby felt a touch of anxiety as she pushed herself to her feet only to stumble on the last hurdle. Thankfully she was spared from crashing to the ground by Saber who caught her body only a handful of feet before she collided with the ground.

"This world is our world, and in our world we do not turn our back to those in need," declared Shirou as Saber lifted Ruby up to be carried bridal style in order to prevent any further damage to her arms or legs, regardless of the fact that blood openly seeped from each wound Gilgamesh had created. "Let's go home."

…

 **Hope you enjoyed**


	13. Choices

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Fate/Stay NIght**

…

Ruby sat in silence as her wounds were heavily bandaged, the pressure intense in order to slow down the bleeding as much as possible. Her arms and legs however were practically useless for any sort of combat and she couldn't help but wonder why she had been saved at all. Had Gilgamesh simply ended her suffering she would have woken up next to Weiss in the medical ward of Beacon Academy and after a day or two of rest and recovery they would have been back in class. That was still likely to happen but she couldn't help but feel as if she may be resting for a lot longer.

"There you are," said Shirou as he tied up the last of the bandages, a small nod of the head all the indication that his words had been heard. "I'll be back in a moment with some food and water."

As Shirou left, Ruby still couldn't quite get a grasp on what her situation was. All she had known of this area she had frequented so often was that everybody here was trying to kill her. Lancer had been somewhat of an exception to the rule but after having trained her and Weiss far past their breaking point only then had he ended it. Shirou and Saber had not only rescued her from her fate at the hands of Gilgamesh but then had treated her wounds. Were they unaware that if she were to die here then she would just wake up back in Beacon Academy? Should she tell them that this area was simply a training exercise? Would they have an existential crisis were she to tell them?

"You look like you've got something on her mind," said Shirou as he returned, a rice ball in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He knelt before her seated form and held up the glass of water to where her hands were. "Are you able to do this yourself or do you need me to help?"

The sincerity of his question caught Ruby off guard before she reached forward, wincing with the pain that shot through her arms to the point where she was biting at the inside of her lip to prevent any sound from seeping through. Lifting the water to her lips was agonizing and she knew that the expression was clear on her face despite how little sound she made. Shirou however didn't voice any protest at her self inflicting pain and instead lifted up the food he had brought. Shaking fingers reached out and took the rice ball from Shirou who afterwards got back to his feet and made to leave the room. "We'll be right here if you need anything." His offer was heard loud and clear as Ruby bit into the food she had been given.

Minutes passed as Ruby slowly finished up the refreshments that she had been given all the while she couldn't help but wonder about the situation she was in. Even though she had no method to defend herself she still felt naked without Crescent Rose by her side. Despite that, she needed some sort of answers and she wasn't going to get them here.

The struggle to get to her feet was one thing, burning pain pulsing through her legs with every touch more pressure she put on them. Her suffering was short lived in the worst possible way however as she collapsed, her body painfully colliding with the wooden floorboards. The sound of her hitting the ground however seemed to spur the people in the room over into action and Ruby quickly found herself surrounded by not only Shirou and Saber but also a woman she had not yet met. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, maybe now she would get some answers.

…

Nora assisted Jaune through the streets, his arm slung over her shoulder as she helped carry some of his weight for him. It had taken them a while to make it back to the outskirts of the town and they thankfully hadn't come across any ultra powerful enemies along the way.

Good times could never last forever.

"Mongrels."

That single word was all the warning that both Nora and Jaune were given before dozens of blades shot forth from seemingly out of nowhere. Even at their quickest reaction time, neither of them would have been able to do anything in the slightest as their bodies were torn to shreds and death overtook them far quicker than they could ever have thought possible.

…

Ruby sat in the seat provided to her with her fists clenched and placed on her knees. Rin, the name she had been given to the third member of the group, had broken down to her just what this world truly was. She also explained that only when there was someone from Beacon Academy in the 'training room' would time actually continue. From that Ruby could understand why Shirou and Saber had come to her aid when they had. Saving her actually meant that time would keep moving forward allowing them to work on whatever project they were working on.

Unfortunately she hadn't been able to get a clear understanding of just what their ultimate goal truly was.

"I guess I should thank you then," said Ruby softly. "Please remember though that I will need to return to Beacon and my friends at some point. If I'm here too long they'll come and try and find me and might run into...him."

No matter how much she willed it, she couldn't call Gilgamesh by name. The power he had at his disposal was far too much than any one man should have, which in her eyes only made him a monster. "Theoretically, another hour or so is all we'll keep you for," declared Rin with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I know it's not ideal, but please bare with us," said Shirou in an apologetic tone. If you need anything during this time please do not hesitate to ask.

Ruby would never be able to understand why she had both answered so quickly or so specifically from people who in the grander scheme of things were simply using her. "Cookies." Shirou couldn't help but chuckle at the request and obeyed as instructed, rummaging through the cupboards of the kitchen before returning with a plate filled with chocolate chip cookies and placing them on Ruby's lap.

Ruby then sat there and watched the people before her talk amongst themselves, every plan and scheme Rin and Shirou concocted was quickly shut down by the other, often followed by a detailed explanation of just why it wouldn't work. Ruby's eyes drifted over to where Saber was kneeling on the ground, eating away at a lunchbox with a pair of chopsticks, seemingly content with allowing the two other people in the room banter amongst each other.

Ruby only realized how much time had passed when she found that the plate she had been holding onto was now empty. She hadn't been eating at her usual rapid rate, the pain in her arms ensuring that rushing her meal was the last thing that she did. It was also at this moment that Rin stepped before her, looking down on her weakened form with her arms placed on her hips. "Before we end this, we need some answers."

Ruby swallowed a lump that formed in her throat. If Beacon Academy had taught her anything of late it was that she wasn't the best at giving the correct answer under pressure. Knowing that you were going to die regardless of what you said, there was no greater pressure than that.

…

"So you guys ran into that guy as well?" asked Weiss, the members of Team RWBY and Team JNPR sitting under the shade of one of the trees that surrounded the campus. The four members who had entered the room had returned to their academical studies shortly after having been dismissed from the hospital wing. Since they had a break at the moment in between classes they needed to compare notes.

Nora scoffed before speaking up. "You could say that but we didn't even see the guy. Next thing we knew we were under attack and boom, that was it."

"He wasn't really one for going easy," acknowledged Weiss as she rubbed at her forearms.

"See, this is why we should stop going in there," said Pyrrha voicing her complaint. "The idea of actually getting any form of training done in there is pointless if all we do is die in there after a few seconds of engaging with the enemy. Not only that but if we get too complacent with the idea of dying in there what'll happen when you encounter an enemy you're unprepared for out here in the real world?"

While the members of the two teams started giving both their arguments and their counter arguments to Pyrrha's claim, Yang remained silent and instead used this moment to talk to someone else. ' _So, blonde haired fellow, attacks from a distance and apparently more than happy to kill without warning. Sound familiar?'_

' _While the memories of this man are not of my own, I am aware of this man and the strength he possesses,'_ answered Caster.

' _You're the same kind of mythical fighter as him though, could you stand a chance?'_

' _If I were to unleash everything at my disposal and try to eradicate him in a single move, I believe I would have less than a five percent chance of success.'_

Yang felt her throat tighten at such a prospect. She had witnessed first hand what Caster could do to an Ursa without so much as scratching at the surface of her power but theoretically even all of her strength would be rendered useless against this guy. Just how stupidly powerful was he?

"Alright," said Ren, being the voice of reason and choosing to make his stance felt now before the two opposite sides of the conversation decided to use their weapons to get their point across. "I think we can come to the agreement that while the room is dangerous there are some benefits from being in there, dependant on just what sort of enemy you come across. You may get one like Lancer whom Ruby and Weiss have earlier explained who will actually take the time to teach you. On the other hand, you have this madman or even the witch who kidnapped and tortured Yang."

Yang could feel Caster's anger vibrate within her but was glad to be in control of her body at that moment in time. Last thing she needed was for some form of malevolent aura to start radiating from her core.

"So what do you suggest?" asked Blake.

Before Ren could explain his completely logical conclusion, Ruby spoke up. "Actually, there's something about the room that you guys need to know about." All eyes focused in on the youngest member of the group who inhaled a deep breath before continuing. "There are two people trapped in that room and I want to get them out."

The group went silent as they then listened to Ruby explain the situation of Shirou and Rin, Jaune chipping in every now and then with what he knew of the punishment that the two members of another world were suffering. While at first many of the group thought it all mere fantasy at first, the more they spoke the more they started to believe that it very may well be exactly what the real situation was. Yang was about to question Caster to see if the servant knew the truth but when she heard the gnashing of teeth she immediately understood that perhaps asking a few questions of the soul inside of her would better be left for another time.

"I know it's odd and I know it sounds insane but I really want to help them," pleaded Ruby of her friends and teammates.

"You know I'm here for you Ruby," said Jaune, voicing his support for the cause. The youngest member of Team RWBY nodded her head in silent appreciation before looking to everyone else.

"Before we start considering any rescue missions, I believe there is one person whom we should discuss this with first," said Weiss. It wasn't that she didn't believe what Ruby and Jaune had said but they were talking about potentially incredibly powerful people trapped in an alternate reality. It was highly possible that they were there for a reason. "Regardless if it is the right thing to do or not we need to tell the headmaster."

"We need to tell Professor Ozpin."

…

 **I know the last chapter didn't quite deliver as many would have liked so I did my best to get this out as quickly as I could. Again, not much in terms of battle scenes (I tried to come up with so many ways to make a fight with Gilgamesh fair but he's just way too powerful) but the plot is starting to steamroll forward. Til next time.**


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